The expanding universe and it's current rate of speed.

The current theory about the ever expanding universe is that it is not only expanding but picking up speed as it goes furthur and furthur out. My question is, if the universe keeps expanding and keeps picking up speed, won't it eventually hit the speed of light?...i mean, if it's showing no signs of slowing down, won't it eventually go so fast that it hits the SoL (Speed of Light) and if this does happen, wouldent we be SoL (Shit Out of Luck)?

Anyway, just some food for thought.

-Hazard-

 

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Vortexx,

Why do universes have to get compressed?

Also, how can low density and hyperinflation lead to big bangs? Doesn't a big bang originate from a singularity?

Brain,
Perhaps the speed will increase towards the speed of light but never actually hit the speed of light...it will increase in increasingly smaller proportions.

 

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::holds head:: Jesus!

Vortexx. You didnt help at all. Learn how to spell and type please.

Captain.

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Brain,
Perhaps the speed will increase towards the speed of light but never actually hit the speed of light...it will increase in increasingly smaller proportions.
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Well, let me ask you something. If the universe will keep expanding forever and ever, no matter how small of proportions the speed increases, it will EVENTUALLY somewhere down the line 100 years, 100,000 years, or 1,000,000,000 years, it will EVENTUALLY hit the speed of light if the speed keeps increasing. Now, personally im not worried about myself or anyone else actually experiencing the end, because i dont have much faith that the human race will survive the next hundred years much less a billion. But it is an interesting question. Think about it.

Eternity + Ever increasing speed of the universe = Universe hitting speed of light. It's a simple equation and even a chimp could add it all up and come to the conclusion that there would be no end to the universe if you really look at it.

 

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There are many threads on the speed of light. Most reside within the Math and Phyisics forum. I think you will find the Theory of Relativity prevents objects with mass, whether the size of a baseball or the size of a galaxy from ever achieving the speed of light. That the object must become energy in order to achieve light speed.

Something I have brought up occasionally is this. If everything is moving away from everything else at increasingly greater speeds, at what point will we no longer be able to reach another distant galaxy (provided that we do discover some method of FTL travel)?

 

Yes, we cannot see anything before about 300,000 years after the Big Bang, when the universe was radiation-dominated and opaque to radiation. But the visible universe is smaller still -- we can only observe some section of the whole universe which is in causal contact with us -- i.e. within ~15 billion light-years of us. If inflationary theory is correct, the universe may well be much, much, much larger than the sphere that is causally connected to us.

- Warren

 

Eternity + Ever increasing speed of the universe = Universe hitting speed of light. It's a simple equation and even a chimp could add it all up and come to the conclusion that there would be no end to the universe if you really look at it.


You kinda answered your own question , Brain.


However I feel that the lightspeed constant will change gradually along with the expansion, so no we will not see it happen.

Besides nearing the speed of light, special relativity states that objects become more massive wich will limit their accelleration.

I think this is caused by the drag of the expanding space in front of the object. it's like water, you can move your hand through it slowly with no problem. but you jump from a high bridge and you might as well jump on concrete. Maybe the old aether theory was right after all.


I (dutch guy) will try to work on my spelling Brain, the world already has too much Bushisms

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Just a few ?'s as I read this stuff. When you (whoever brought it up) say that the universe is expanding, what is the method of measurement? I thought, or more accurately, I think I remember something about the crest of a wave (presumably from the big bang) being the measured object? If so would this not be energy? And if it is how is it possible that we, using energy to measure this wave, can catch up to the crest of this wave as it already has a 14.999 billion year head start on our energy waves sent to measure it? Also I thought we could only look back in time, if we sent an energy wave to measure the expansion wouldn't we have to wait for the signal to return the information which would make it a past event? I need some serious Physics lessons!

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One more before I go...don't you have to have a reference point in order to tell whether the object being measured is actually what is moving and not the object doing the measuring?, if so what is used as a reference for measuring the speed of the universe?

 

Red shift is used as an indicator of whether an object is moving away from us or not. At present it is the standard for determining the direction and speed.