Depending on where we look, the universe is expanding at different rates. Now, scientists using the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes have confirmed that the observation is not down to a measurement error.
Seeing the universe expanding at different rates could just mean we’re not as close to the center as we thought, and the parts further away from the center are moving faster. That’s my layman’s hypothesis though
We’re at the center of what we can see. But that’s just a limit of the speed of light and the age of the universe. The universe almost certainly goes beyond what we can see. And there’s no way of knowing how big the universe is beyond that.
It’s like being on a ship in the ocean. You can see the horizon is 20miles in every direction. That doesn’t mean you’re in the center of the ocean. You’re only in the center of what you can… Sea
It’s fun to think it might just start going backwards or something because we have literally no idea what is actually happening, like it’s very possible we’ll never actually be able to see or measure anything outside the universe but there could be all sorts of things going on.
That’s what I believe as well. AFAIK from what we know the universe could be infinite or simply bigger than the observable part. But I think the only reason people default to assuming that it’s finite is that infinity is hard to grasp and that illustrations of the big bang show a point and then disks of expanding size. People assume that means the universe is a sphere but nothing contradicts what you say so there’s no reason not to believe that it’s infinite.
It’s a decent testable hypothesis. If there were a center. Which seems obvious in the familiar mechanical way of say a firecracker. It certainly has a center with debris going every direction from that point.
However (to use a problematic oversimplification): what if the universe has a similarity to the surface of a balloon being blown up, where is the center?
Wherever you put your finger, the whole rest of the surface of the balloon is expanding away from that point. One center point is earth. Every other place in the universe also appears to be a center.
When looking at the evidence, data from telescopes and such, describing the expansion of the universe is closer to the balloon surface theory than the firecracker theory. Even though the firecracker theory is easier to comprehend.
When people are talking about the center they mean the relative center, in other words, our point of reference. This definitionally is where we are as the observer.
Seeing the universe expanding at different rates could just mean we’re not as close to the center as we thought, and the parts further away from the center are moving faster. That’s my layman’s hypothesis though
We’re not thought to be at the center at all.
We’re at the center of what we can see. But that’s just a limit of the speed of light and the age of the universe. The universe almost certainly goes beyond what we can see. And there’s no way of knowing how big the universe is beyond that.
It’s like being on a ship in the ocean. You can see the horizon is 20miles in every direction. That doesn’t mean you’re in the center of the ocean. You’re only in the center of what you can… Sea
Kurzgesagt’s latest video actually covers this. I found the hypotheses they covered pretty interesting.
I sea what you did there. Whale done.
There is no center of the universe fwiw, there is no middle everything is expanding out from. Just a substrate that exists everywhere that inflates
It’s fun to think it might just start going backwards or something because we have literally no idea what is actually happening, like it’s very possible we’ll never actually be able to see or measure anything outside the universe but there could be all sorts of things going on.
That’s what I believe as well. AFAIK from what we know the universe could be infinite or simply bigger than the observable part. But I think the only reason people default to assuming that it’s finite is that infinity is hard to grasp and that illustrations of the big bang show a point and then disks of expanding size. People assume that means the universe is a sphere but nothing contradicts what you say so there’s no reason not to believe that it’s infinite.
It’s a decent testable hypothesis. If there were a center. Which seems obvious in the familiar mechanical way of say a firecracker. It certainly has a center with debris going every direction from that point.
However (to use a problematic oversimplification): what if the universe has a similarity to the surface of a balloon being blown up, where is the center?
Wherever you put your finger, the whole rest of the surface of the balloon is expanding away from that point. One center point is earth. Every other place in the universe also appears to be a center.
When looking at the evidence, data from telescopes and such, describing the expansion of the universe is closer to the balloon surface theory than the firecracker theory. Even though the firecracker theory is easier to comprehend.
There is no center.
Yes there is and it is me.
Can I have some money?
When people are talking about the center they mean the relative center, in other words, our point of reference. This definitionally is where we are as the observer.
Loose the centre assumption and you are there.
Our section of the universe is not as uniform as it should be.