How big is the universe?Dose it have an edge or is it infinite in extent?
How big is the universe?Dose it have an edge or is it infinite in extent?
Scientists
have long pondered the size of the universe, but they all know that this is one
of those eternal questions to which there are no definite answers. The problem
in this case is that the human eye, even with the aid of the most powerful
telescope, cannot observe the deep space beyond a certain distance. In
addition, there also is a certain distance beyond which the universe itself is
physically unobservable.
what
makes the size of the universe incomprehensible be explained in simple terms.
The universe is about 13.74
billion years old. However, space itself has expanded enormously since the big
bang, so we are currently obsrving galaxies that were formed a few million
years after the big bang and that are now considerably farther away than 13.74
billion light-years. Because of the expansion of space, many far away galaxies
(photo, below) are currently moving away from us faster than the speed of
light.
Galaxies moving away from us |
while
no object can travel faster than the light speed, there is no limit on the
speed between two galaxies that are driftting apart by the expanding spate
itself. These galaxies, receding at the speed greater than 299792.458
kilometres per second, can no longer be seen as their light cannot reach us. They
have left the observable universe forever, beyond which lies unperceivable and
unknown expanse of hidden universe. Given this constraint, there is no way
astronomers can tell whether the universe is finite or infinite in extents.
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