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Does size matter?

DrLao

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webboffin said:
How exactly big is the universe? Is it 24-30 billion light years across in diameter?
For the observable universe, that is about right. 2 times the age of the universe light years from one direction to the other. But, AFAIK (and IANA Astrophysicist), there is no reason to think the whole universe is finite. The space at the edge of our observable universe doesn't appear to be special in anyway, like it is near an edge. There doesn't appear to be any preferred direction, an indication a center or an edge. That means that the universe is so big that 30 billion light years plus or minus doesn't make much of a difference. Effectively infinite to any possible approximation given our ability to observe.
 
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Wolseley

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Given the fact that Earth is a relatively tiny planet next to a relatively insignificant small yellow star, and that we find the problems inherent in merely travelling to our own satellite, the Moon, to be vast and complicated, let alone the rest of the Solar System, which is itself merely a small sprinkling of planets located in one spiral arm of the Galaxy (never mind the rest of the billions of stars and systems in the Galaxy, which is unimaginably huge).....and that our Galaxy is only one of untold billions just like it, the only thing I can say about the observable Universe is that I'm really happy I don't have to commute across it every day.

:)
 
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JohnR7

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webboffin said:
How exactly big is the universe? Is it 24-30 billion light years across in diameter?

1) If you believe in the big bang theory

2) If the rate of expansion has remained consistant from the beginning.

It is a YEC theory though, that the rate of time in the middle of the universe is not the same as it is at the edge. I think they call it time delusion. They think that here on earth 6000 years has passed, but on the edge of the universe 14 billion years has passed.

Then there is a theory about the rate of something coming at you, is different from the rate of something moving away from you. I think that is called the doppler effect and police use it for their radar to catch speeders. I would have to check to be sure though.
 
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JohnR7

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Wolseley said:
Given the fact that Earth is a relatively tiny planet next to a relatively insignificant small yellow star,

:)

The Sun is not so insignificant to me. I am not so sure the planet is so small either. It takes about 17 hours to travel half way around the world at about 600 mph. When your sitting on a airplane that can seem like a long amount of time. It is not so difficult is you can figure out a way to get comfortable though.
 
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SavedByGrace3

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Every time they build a more powerful telescope, guess what? They find more and more galaxies. They still have not reached any sort of end or edge of the universe.
 
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revolutio

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obediah001 said:
It is infinite as our God is so His universe is so too. It makes sense for it to be; I can not imagine the edge like the edge of the kitchen table.
Neither could Einstein. He added in a 'fudge factor' to his equations to make sure the universe was infinite. He later dismissed it as his biggest mistake ever after Edward Hubble confirmed that the universe was indeed expanding.
 
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SavedByGrace3

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JohnR7 said:
The Sun is not so insignificant to me. I am not so sure the planet is so small either.
One thing that has struck me as I get older. Things seem to be getting smaller and smaller.

I visited my home town for the first time in many years recently. The house I grew up in and the street I played in seem to be tiny compared to my memory. The world seemed so large back then. Now I jump on a plane and fly a thousand miles to DC in just a couple hours. We drive 400 miles to Jacksonville to see a ball game in just a few hours.

Someday, off in the distant future, I believe we will hop planets and even galaxies like we hop from city to city now. What will it be like to know everything there is to know, to be anywhere you want to be, to do anything you want to do? What will it be like when there is nothing left to discover?

Alas I ramble....
 
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revolutio

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didaskalos said:
Someday, off in the distant future, I believe we will hop planets and even galaxies like we hop from city to city now. What will it be like to know everything there is to know, to be anywhere you want to be, to do anything you want to do? What will it be like when there is nothing left to discover?
The Carter Catastrophe is coming, no one human will ever be around in the distant future. :D
 
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JohnR7

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didaskalos said:
What will it be like to know everything there is to know, to be anywhere you want to be, to do anything you want to do? What will it be like when there is nothing left to discover?

I do not think there will ever be an end to the learning process. Travel maybe quite a bit faster though. I have heard that all we will need to do is think about a person or a place and we can instantly be there. That would be nice :) As far as learning though, I think that if I were in Heaven, I would be learning a lot of the same things I am learning here. If we are taught by God. Of course in Heaven we will not have to put up with all the deception we have to put up with here on Earth from unredeemed and unregenerated people. That is why we need to be sure that the Holy Spirit of Truth is helping us to discern what is of God and what is not of God.
 
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J

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JohnR7 said:
1) If you believe in the big bang theory
given the evidence, there is not much dispute really.
2) If the rate of expansion has remained consistant from the beginning.
it hasn't been, we know this. there was an inflationary period near the beginning where everything expanded massively, then it slowed down, and now it is accelerating again.
It is a YEC theory though, that the rate of time in the middle of the universe is not the same as it is at the edge. I think they call it time delusion. They think that here on earth 6000 years has passed, but on the edge of the universe 14 billion years has passed.
found in Humphrey's book, starlight and time. He dropped this theory because there were too many holes in it.
Then there is a theory about the rate of something coming at you, is different from the rate of something moving away from you. I think that is called the doppler effect and police use it for their radar to catch speeders. I would have to check to be sure though.

that is red shift, no problem there.
 
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J

Jet Black

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didaskalos said:
Every time they build a more powerful telescope, guess what? They find more and more galaxies. They still have not reached any sort of end or edge of the universe.

because there probably isn't one. also remember when you are looking through a telescope, you look back through time. the furthest back you can see is 13.7 billion years, then you are looking at the cosmic microwave background.
 
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Nathan Poe

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JohnR7 said:
The Sun is not so insignificant to me. I am not so sure the planet is so small either.

It's a matter of perspective. The Earth's important to us, since we're standing on it. Astronomy and cosmology is about looking at the much bigger picture.


It takes about 17 hours to travel half way around the world at about 600 mph. When your sitting on a airplane that can seem like a long amount of time. It is not so difficult is you can figure out a way to get comfortable though.

If you were sitting on a beam of light, you could travel all the way around the world in about 1/7 of a second.

You could make it to the Sun in about 8 minutes.

You could make it to Alpha Centauri (the next closest star) in about 4 years.

After that, things are really far away :eek:
 
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Could the universe in some theory be bigger than reality?

What I mean is, will it go always further than what can be seen, and what is further seen, the universe goes further still. You kind of get my drift? So the more we observe the bigger the universe gets.

I got that idea from the notion you can not simultaneously observe an electron's position and it's momentum at the same time. what's it called, the uncertainty principle?
So that observation has a direct affect on the size scale of the universe.
 
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