edge of the universe? whats it expanding into?

what evidence do we have that shows us the universe has an edge?

what is the universe expanding into?


peace.

 

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Its only physically possible to gather evidence for a distance of ~11 billion light years(the visible universe). Although with more accurate data we may be able to demonstrate that the universe is finite, but currently we have no conclusive data that it's either finite or infinite.

If you can realize that the bigbang was the begonning of time and space itself. It may remove the desire to ask about "ends" and "what it's expanding into".

 

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So before the big bang there is no space or time or mass or energy?

 

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We have no idea: that's where physics (so far) fails.

 

In physical cosmology, the term Big Bang has three related meanings. It refers to the observable facts of the evolution of the universe. It is also a cosmological model in which the universe has been expanding for around 13.7 billion years (13.7 Ga), starting from a tremendously dense and hot state. The term is also used in a narrower sense to describe the fundamental 'fireball' that erupted at or close to time t=0 in the history of the universe.

Observational evidence for the Big Bang includes the analysis of the spectrum of light from galaxies, which reveal a shift towards longer wavelengths proportional to each galaxy's distance in a relationship described by Hubble's law. Combined with the assumption that observers located anywhere in the universe would make similar observations (the Copernican principle), this suggests that space itself is expanding. Extrapolation of this expansion back in time yields a state in the distant past in which the universe was in a state of immense density and temperature. This hot, dense state is the key premise of the Big Bang.

Theoretical support for the Big Bang comes from mathematical models, called Friedmann models, which show that a Big Bang is consistent with general relativity and with the cosmological principle, which states that the properties of the universe should be independent of position or orientation.

The theory of Big Bang nucleosynthesis predicts the rates at which various light elements are created in models of the early universe and gives results that are generally consistent with observations. The Big Bang model also predicts the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), a background of weak microwave radiation filling the whole universe. The discovery of the CMB in 1964 led to general acceptance among physicists that the Big Bang is the best model for the origin and evolution of the universe.

From wiki

 

So whats the theoretical model?

 

Of what? Big Bang?
We don't have one.
We only go back to 10[sup]-43[/sup] of a second after it happened.
(or was that 10[sup]-42[/sup], I forget

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).

 

Yeah it's about that.

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Look up planck time if one wants the precise figure.

 

might as well say god did it :bawl:

 

Can you get him to tell me the secrets? I would be one of the most celebrated physicists of the age if he did.:thankyou:

 

I don't think there are any secrets. The evidence is there we just haven't the means to observe or imagine it yet. Or should that be the other way around? Perhaps comprehend is a better word than imagine.

 

You should see the thread "which direction are we traveling in space",

http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=68969

as it discusses this issue in detail.

 

Essentially, the "edge of the universe", which we take to mean that 'shell' of matter that emits the CMB [CMB-emitter], shown to be a hot plasma of H/HE of some 2,700 degrees K, receding from us at about 0.9999991 c, is expanding into space in all directions. It is, of course, not the actual "edge" of the universe, but rather the 'edge' of the visible portion that we can see. The universe has no actual "edge" but extends to infinity.

 

Did you just make that up off the top of your head?

Go back to your loonie thread kid! We are talking science.

 

and if i do that then i would have just closed part of my mind. no thanks i will pass

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i believe there was a bang, but that ang was not the start of time and space. thats like asking me to believe god said "let there be light" and he just made existence.

peace.
.

 

Thats why you get cranks, because you only listen to certainties and boundries and we dont have those when it comes to the universe.

 

Hey 'Ghost':

You wrote:

"Its only physically possible to gather evidence for a distance of ~11 billion light years(the visible universe)."

In today's Hilo Tribune, it is reported that a team of astronomers headed by Caltech scientists Richard Ellis and Dan Stark, using our Keck telescope, over the course of three years and taking advantage of 'gravitational lensing' caused by distant massive galaxy-clusters, have detected red-shifts for early galaxy formation at a distance of 13 billion light-years. Get your facts straight.

Of course, by using even longer wave-length receivers, detecting red-shifted light in the microwave frequency, we are able to see to a distance of about 14 billion light years - the "edge" of the 'visible' universe. At that distance, we see a nearly uniform, hot plasma of gas, seen in all directions [isotropic] with very great recessional velocity.

The topic of the thread was well put. What is that edge expanding into? If you read the thread-link I posted earlier, you will find out.

Or are you like the flat-earther's who believed the surface of the earth came to an end; and believe that the universe suddenly terminates once we get to those most distant galaxies that we see?

----------

Here's a link to the Keck work:

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/keck-20070710.html [added on July 12, 2007]

 

As far as I was aware It was not verified that the universe is 13+ billion years old and it might be useful for you to learn that "~" means aproximately. Anyhow how do you suppose we observe further than light can travel since the big bang?
As for the link: I'm not interested in far-out plasma theories thanks.

 

I always thought the universe just folded back into itself, thus if you went in a straight line for awhile you'd eventually end up back where you began?!

 

That's one of many theories. Of course, since we haven't actually observed the actual "edge", there is no way to prove it. Yet.

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Personally, it appeals to me, because if we accept that time and space were created with the Big Bang, then the fabric must fold in on itself at what we call the "edge". Maybe we should ask the Big Boss

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