How big is the universe?

[jackamo2887]

Is its size infinite? Or does it just end somewhere?

[Vlps5122]

No reason to think it's anything other then infinite

[-=Zeus=-!]

Ask jeeves.

[wildphucker]

Enclosed non-boundary space

[Otaman]

no one will give you an accurate answer (atleast for now)

it is beyond our understanind/knowledge capacities

My guess: it has something to do with our brains. Galaxy formations in the universe look awfully similar to our brain cells. I think there is gotta be a connection. Something matrix like

[Pastier911]

no one will give you an accurate answer (atleast for now)

it is beyond our understanind/knowledge capacities

My guess: it has something to do with our brains. Galaxy formations in the universe look awfully similar to our brain cells. I think there is gotta be a connection. Something matrix like

Stoned and mind might be blown if other people comment on this

[wildphucker]

Listen to these sounds Jupiter makes...... sounds new age-ish,almost some eerie sort of "call"

[TorridRed04]

13.7 Billion light years is the correct answer.

[Iapetus]

Is its size infinite? Or does it just end somewhere?

We don't know.

My guess: it has something to do with our brains. Galaxy formations in the universe look awfully similar to our brain cells. I think there is gotta be a connection. Something matrix like

facepalm.jpg

[Otaman]

We don't know.

facepalm.jpg

you can't deny the patterns are similar.

[drxmn]

13.7 Billion light years is the correct answer.

its the current answer.

[Slacker2]

13.7 Billion light years is the correct answer.

That's the age.

It's actually ~93 billion light years in diameter (expanded faster than light and it's still speeding up)

[gouscfootball]

If you guys want a mind=blown movie watch "Sunshine". Directed by Danny Boyle (same guy as slumdog millionaire, 28 days later, 127 hour and the beach). Very eerie and a lot of psychological themes to think about. Im not a big fan of the second half of it, but it gives you a cool perspective of the loneliness of space and our insignificance...

[cchar042]

It's hard to imagine what could possibly be at the end, if there is one. We think of a boundary as some sort of wall or something, but infinite would be my guess. I just can't see an end to it.

[wonderbrah]

i hope that when I die I get the answer to **** like that, damnit.

mind is full of ****

[RalphNader420]

I forget where i saw this but NASA said that there is something outside of the universe

[mikestarr]

its not fair we will never know

[mojo85]

There is a finite boundry as far as we know however since the universe had a starting point therefore it must have a ending point that is still expanding. Whats beyond that who knows?

[mikestarr]

There is a finite boundry as far as we know however since the universe had a starting point therefore it must have a ending point that is still expanding. Whats beyond that who knows?

and you would think over time as it expanded it would slow down but it is actually going faster as it expands...what is the force pulling it?

[mojo85]

and you would think over time as it expanded it would slow down but it is actually going faster as it expands...what is the force pulling it?

Dark energy, which makes up 74% of the entire universe yet we know pretty much nothing about it. We can barely even detect it, only dectect what it does to space around it.

[simwi]

IMO the universe ends at some point. If scientists are saying that the universe is constantly growing at a matter of x lightyears per second or whatever, then surely there must be an end?

but at the speed that it is going there is no way we can ever get to it.

But then comes the question, what is beyond the universe? (if the above statement were true, which i highly doubt it is)

[SwoleMayne]

There is no end to the Universe. It will FOREVER expand.

Around now it is around ~100 bil light years.. but expanding because gravity is losing the battle to dark matter.

[simwi]

There is no end to the Universe. It will FOREVER expand.

Around now it is around ~100 bil light years.. but expanding because gravity is losing the battle to dark matter.

but if the universe is expanding, there has to be something there in the first place to keep moving.

it's like looking straight ahead, at nothing specifically, and saying 'look, it's expanding!'

what, in the first place, are we looking at? nothing. therefore nothing can't expand as there is nothing there to expand in the first place.

[wowz]

How do we know that the universe is expanding? Planets/suns/gases/galaxies etc are moving apart, but does that mean the actual universe is expanding?

Analogy:
Ripples in a pool expand outward, but the pool itself stays the same size.

Just asking.

[Muckle_Ewe]

no one will give you an accurate answer (atleast for now)

it is beyond our understanind/knowledge capacities

My guess: it has something to do with our brains. Galaxy formations in the universe look awfully similar to our brain cells. I think there is gotta be a connection. Something matrix like

I've seen this posted a lot and a don't think there's any matrix type thing going on. Rather, it's the fractal nature of the universe that we're looking it. Perhaps it's something to do with how information spreads through free space or something I dunno... But they're similar for a maths/physics reason, not a matrix one (IMO).

[xDevianTx]

observable or the unobservable either way mind=blowntopieces



When we put all three of these things together, what we get is the concept known as eternal inflation. The big idea is that what we call "our Universe" is just one place -- which we can only see a part of -- where we've successfully slid down the hill. But the vast majority of the "true" Universe, outside of our little pocket, is still inflating, and still expanding exponentially!

Based on what we currently think about inflation, this means that the Universe is at least 10^(1030) times the size of our observable Universe! And good luck living long enough to even write that number down. Thanks to Rob Knop for making me think about this, and isn't that a mind-blowing thing to think about? All that we know, see, and observe is just one tiny region that slid down that hill fast enough to end inflation, but most of it just keeps on inflating forever and ever. Aren't we the lucky ones?!

[mojo85]

Cool video but damn that guys voice is soothing, like a grandfather telling a story. Id listen even if he was comparing porta potties.

[TheGoldenFleece]

If u believe in the big bang theory than the universe still expanding in size and will eventually start to enclose on itself. Scientists just came up with this new theory that space doesn't end and the universe just seams to stop where we can't see past it but on the contrary if one was to go to the end of the universe and go through it u could keep going. There would be infinity, it's just that our sense of sight can't perceive past it the end of the universe

[TheOneAboveAll]

you can't deny the patterns are similar.

We are pattern seeking creatures. The patterns we see tell us something about our psychology, not the universe. Countless people see Jesus and Mary on toast. You see the pattern?

How do we know that the universe is expanding? Planets/suns/gases/galaxies etc are moving apart, but does that mean the actual universe is expanding?

Analogy:
Ripples in a pool expand outward, but the pool itself stays the same size.

Just asking.

It has to do with red shift. If the planets were moving away, the red shift measurement would coincide with the distance between objects and the speed they are moving away with. That's not the pattern that was observed. They found that the space itself between objects was growing. Either universe is expanding, or we have no idea at all how gravity works. Since Einstein's theories have been proven right time and again, it probably the former.