My 6 year old wants to know why does space never end??

Question

Please answer he would be very pleased and proud that you guys want to answer him. Merry christmas from Brandon

Thanks but as I said he is only 6 lol

Thanks for the few that said merry christmas to him anyway.

Answer 1

Hi Brandon!

The universe is always expanding so space must expand to accomodate it. If it keeps getting bigger all the time, it can't end because the edge keeps travelling!

Answer 2

There is the belief among most scientists that the universe began as a single point then expanded rapidly in all directions from this point. The term "Big Bang" is misleading, because it wasn't an explosion, but a rapid expansion. Since it is expanding today I guess it is only reasonable to assume that it has a boundary. Infinite space cannot expand, since it goes on forever.


EDIT:
There is the observable universe, which we can see with telescopes and such, but it is likely that the universe goes beyond this, since space can expand much faster than light and objects can. Light form the most distant galaxies and quasars that reach us now are more distant, because as the light from these objects was traveling to us the space in between us and the object is also expanding.

Answer 3

We don't know whether it ends or not. Most people think that it goes on forever, but they haven't been able to find out for sure. That is because we can't get far enough away from Earth to find out, because if we go too far, we can't get back in our lifetime.

We know that space is expanding and some people think that at some point it will start to contract until it can't contract any more, then it will expand again. That is only one idea, though. There are a lot more. People have different ideas about the shape of space too.

There is a kids' page on the NASA web site that might be fun to visit.

NASA Kids' Club
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.html

For students K - Grade 4:
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/index.html

Answer 4

One of the many theories is that space never ends because it is a circle or doughnut shape and therefore has no start or beginning.

Hope this helps. Don't kids ask the best questions?

MERRY CHRISTMAS BRANDON!

Answer 5

I sugest getting your child some childrens books about astronomy and as he grows older encourage an interest in science.

The actual answer is that the combined gravity of the entire Universe warps the dimensions of our Universe in such a way that if you went in a straight line at many many times the speed of light, you would end up back where you started. But also to do that it would require the entire mass of the Universe to do that and when you finally got back to the point you began all the stars would have burned out. Yes the Universe is actually bigger than that.

Answer 6

Happy Christmas Brandon. Space never ends because otherwise God's creations could not possibly fit into it.

Answer 7

Well a long time ago, there was all this stuff in a ball and it exploded. It created the universe and is still expanding almost like a shock wave carrying matter with it. If it continues to expand, space would go on forever......atleast until the Big Crunch.

Answer 8

It doesn't end It has been expanding for 13.7 billion years.
Merry Christmas Brandon.

Answer 9

Space does end , but there is some empty space at the end of Space for Space to expand into.

Answer 10

I thought that the latest theory was that it sort of folded back on itself, so if you went far enough you'd end up where you started. Sort of a donut shape but in more incomprehensible dimensions