Is there a center of the universe?

Question

Is there a center of the universe? Can a point or an area be mapped that can be called the location of where the Big Bang occurred and where all cosmic objects are moving away from. I notice science news talking about finding objects farther and farther away from the universe but not the other way.

Answer 1

http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=0009F0CA-C523-1213-852383414B7F0147
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_cosmology

this is actually a common misconception about the big bang. the universe is finite yet has no boundaries. it has no center and no edge. the universe may be something like a three-dimensional version of the two-dimensional surface of a sphere. it is space-time itself that is expanding. matter is not spreading into existing space-time. the big bang was the whole universe, and everywhere in the universe was once the big bang.

when the universe was 380 000 years old, it had expanded and cooled to about 2900K so atomic nuclei, 76% hydrogen and 24% helium, could combine with free electrons and light could pass unscattered by the free electrons. the universe became transparent. before this the universe was much like a heavy fog. astronomers observe this light stretched to the microwave, and call it the cosmic microwave background. no electromagnetic radiation beyond the cmb is detectable.

the cmb was originally black-body radiation of material at about 2900K, but we observe it as black-body radiation of material at 2.7K because of the stretching of light due to the expansion of the universe. observations by nasa's microwave anisotropy probe suggest that the cmbhas a redshift of 1089, and is at least 46 billion light-years away, that it is receding at 50c, and that the universe is 13.7 billion years old.

Answer 2

The Big Bang was not like an explosion at a specific location. It was the start of the entire universe. So there is no "centre" of the universe that is the point where the Big Bang occured.
All objects are moving away from all the other objects, not from a specific location.
Think of a loaf of raisin bread. As it bakes, the dough rises (expands) and the raisins move apart. But to each raisin, all the other raisins are moving away from it because the space between them all is expanding.
Its sort of like that - space itself is expanding, carrying the objects along with it so to every object all the others are moving away from it (no matter where you are).

Answer 3

as far as we know the universe goes on forever. (how could it end?) Therefore there can be no center. However, if there is forever on both sides of any point, then anywhere can be the center.
You're making me think WAY too hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 4

no, but you do know whats hiding in the center of our galaxy right?

In my humble opinion, there isn't an exact center if you believe in string theory and branes colliding