With the Hubble now recording images from half a billion years after the big bang, we have the ability to see a wide range of galaxies over a period of 10 billion+ years. And since the universe is expanding, we are seeing certain red-shifting of objects as they move away from us.

But, is it geometrically possible to determine if the center of the universe has been shifting over time based upon the observations of these distant galaxies over such a long time period.

I guess what I am getting at is summed up by this poor example:
Is the big bang essentially an exploding baseball that was just sitting still, or was the baseball flying through the air (velocity, no acceleration) when it exploded?

And, because there is no external context which is measurable, can we determine the velocity of the original baseball (or lack thereof) by examining the way that the parts explode in a relativistic manner.

I guess this goes back to the idea that the red-shift shows that an object is moving away from us, but is there any way to determine from a set of three objects, what central point they are moving away from, or at least whether that cnetral point changes over time?

The problem is that there is no absolute reference frame in which to define a center.

If you take any three objects widely space objects, you can determine a relative center of expansion for those three, which I think will be the centroid of the triangle with those objects at the corners. However, that center will be different depending on what objects you select, and there's no means of preferring one over any other.

If the universe did start out like an exploding baseball (it didn't), then the movement of that baseball would depend entirely on the reference frame you chose to view it from.

There is no preferred reference frame that lets you define some absoulte motion.

The problem is, there is no reference frame for observing a shift in the center of the universe!

The problem is, there is no center in the first place! :D :D

There may very well be a center in more dimensions than our own but we'll never know it! Think of the universe like the surface of the earth. Where is the center of the surface of the earth.......?:eek:

With the Hubble now recording images from half a billion years after the big bang, we have the ability to see a wide range of galaxies over a period of 10 billion+ years. And since the universe is expanding, we are seeing certain red-shifting of objects as they move away from us.

But, is it geometrically possible to determine if the center of the universe has been shifting over time based upon the observations of these distant galaxies over such a long time period.

I guess what I am getting at is summed up by this poor example:
Is the big bang essentially an exploding baseball that was just sitting still, or was the baseball flying through the air (velocity, no acceleration) when it exploded?

And, because there is no external context which is measurable, can we determine the velocity of the original baseball (or lack thereof) by examining the way that the parts explode in a relativistic manner.

I guess this goes back to the idea that the red-shift shows that an object is moving away from us, but is there any way to determine from a set of three objects, what central point they are moving away from, or at least whether that cnetral point changes over time?

Well, the newest informations say that universe is old 13 700 000 000 years.That information has been told and calculated when the furthest galaxy known was discovered which distance is 13 230 000 000 light years away.

Well, the newest informations say that universe is old 13 700 000 000 years.That information has been told and calculated when the furthest galaxy known was discovered which distance is 13 230 000 000 light years away.

Sorry my mistake.The name of the furthet galaxy is Abel 1835 IR916,and is 13 230 000 000 light years away,and the astronomers have found out that this,right know,furthest known galaxy Abel 1835 IR916 has started to exist at least one billion years after the Big Bang explosion-the creation of the known universe.

There may very well be a center in more dimensions than our own but we'll never know it! Think of the universe like the surface of the earth. Where is the center of the surface of the earth.......?:eek:
Yeah, yeah, yeah... we are dicusing that in another thread already. I was jut joking about it... :D

...Abel 1835 IR916...
We run out of numbers for the "NGC"s, eh? :D :D :D