What is beyond the quasars?

Question

If the quasars are at the outer edge of the expanding universe, what is beyond them? I say it's just empty space, my husband says there is literally nothing - that space is created by the universe expanding. (It's one of the few things we fight about).

Answer 1

You're thinking about quasars in the wrong way. Quasars aren't something that is out on the edge of the universe but rather something that is back in time (though there is no such thing as an "edge" to the universe, not in the way me and you think of it any way). When we observe something in the universe far far away we are actually looking back in time at something. Since there is a finite speed on light and the universe is very big, the light that has left those early galaxies, quasars, left their origins about 10 billion years ago and is just reaching us now. So when we look out in the sky we are looking back in time. For example, when you look at the sun (don't try this at home) you are seeing the sun as it looked 8 minutes ago. When you look at the big dipper you are seeing the stars as they looked a 1000 years ago. Quasars are objects that are 10 billion years old or more and only existed in the early universe. Hope this answered most of your question.

Answer 2

To some extent, your husband has a point. When astronomers say that the universe is expanding, they don't just mean that the matter in the universe (galaxies, stars, quasars, etc.) is spreading out and getting father apart. In some odd way, empty space itself seems to be stretching itself out, as shown by the fact that light traveling through empty space seems to increase its wavelength by having its photons pulled father apart (since photons move at the speed of light, they cannot move father apart by speeding up or slowing down -- the empty space itself must be expanding).

On the other hand, there is no way for anyone to know for sure what is beyond the visible edge of the universe, since we cannot actually see it. So maybe you are right also. Maybe God is out there.

Answer 3

It's generally accepted that the universe is finite but unbounded. Sounds like double-talk I know, but look at it this way. Consider an ant crawling around a huge beach ball and never coming to the end. It would consider the beach ball as infinite. If you now consider the ant as only a two dimensional creature and crawling round a three dimensional beach ball, you could understand why the ant would consider the beach ball to be infinite, the three dimensional picture, that shows how restricted its movement really is, is simply not available to it. Thus with the universe, from our perspective, restricted to our view from within the universe, it appears to be infinite, but this is just an illusion, we are confined to the limits of our universe and cannot escape from it. We are bounded within a finite universe. Another way to say all this is you can start from anywhere you like, travel away from that point and eventually you’ll simply come back to where you were. You’ll never come against and edge or boundary, you’ll just end up back where you started.

Answer 4

No one knows for sure. A lack of matter beyond the expanding universe could be conceived of as "nothing". ;-)=

Answer 5

Nonody knows whats beyond but I believe your husband is right. Men usually are

Answer 6

Cosmic radiation, free sub atomic particles, some hydrogen maybe some helium.

Answer 7

got to www.yahoo.com and type

what is outside the universe

you will have thousands of answers in .23 seconds by actual scientists.

Answer 8

Well, we don't really know, simply because we can't see it as light from any objects out there hasn't reached us yet. So 1, there may not be anything out there. 2, even if there are, we can't see them.

Answer 9

I think it would be shortsighted to say there is nothing beyond.