the universe?
2007-10-28 15:07:36 · 16 answers · asked by sadie161994 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The universe is about 14 billion years old. Light reaching us from the most distant galaxies has been travelling,for more almost 14 billion years. If we take this for the radius of the universe then its diameter is about 28 billion light years.
But the universe has been expanding since the beginning of time at the Big Bang.
All the distance covered by the light in the early universe gets increased by the expansion of the universe. Go back to when the universe was only a million years old and follow some photons of light as they travel for one light year. But the universe has expanded by at least 1000 times since then so that one light lear of travel has expanded into 1000 llight years of distance.
That photon of light reaching us today after travelling for about 14 billion years is now 78 billion light-years away from its starting point. That would be the radius of the universe so the diameter or distance all the way across is about double that or 156 billion light years. We could probably say it is somethere between 140 to 170 billion light years in size.
2007-10-28 15:25:27 · answer #1 · answered by baja_tom 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unexplainable; the new theory is that there are five or more dimensions. The most distance light source we have seen from earth is 5.4 billion light years away. The thing is that is amazing is it is not slowing down it is speeding up as if being pulled by a gravitational force that has not been explained. An article that I read theorizes that sheets of dimensional material is either matter or antimatter and when they touch it causes an major event similar to the big bang. Matter is propelled through the plane of its in and when it expands so far it touches the next plane of its antimatter and the universe is recycled into possibly new sub-atomic particles and the cycle starts over again.
2007-10-28 22:30:13 · answer #2 · answered by boworl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
E-mail me if you can find the true answer for this cause I have a lot more questions for someone of such knowledge.
Very little is known about the size of the universe. It may be trillions of light years across, or even infinite in size. A 2003 paper[20] claims to establish a lower bound of 24 gigaparsecs (78 billion light years) on the size of the universe, but there is no reason to believe that this bound is anywhere near tight.
2007-10-28 22:12:53 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Infinitesimally big. We can't see to the end of the universe with the most powerful telescope in the world!
2007-10-28 22:11:01 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pretty big. And, due to inflation, much of it may not even be detectable. There is a site that give some dimensions and allows you to take a virtual journey which may give you a little insight on this.
You might click on the link I've provided to take that "journey" from the vast to the infinitesimal. I've taken this virtual tour a number of times and it certainly has been humbling to me.
Best regards,
Jim
2007-10-28 22:53:03 · answer #5 · answered by Jim H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the universe is known to expand
the theory is not proved but is understood by us because humans will discover more of the universe as technology expands...therefore we will never be able to pin point how big the universe is.
2007-10-28 22:16:59 · answer #6 · answered by Bob B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well if the big bang occured 14 billion years ago then the universe should be 28 billion light years across
2007-10-28 22:12:21 · answer #7 · answered by Tommiecat 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't believe there is an exact length of the universe.
2007-10-28 22:10:44 · answer #8 · answered by Ryan Lalonde 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Really Big
2007-10-28 22:10:08 · answer #9 · answered by Maverick4007 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
about 15 billion light years in size.
2007-10-29 00:14:16 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋