When we look at the distant Universe, we see galaxies everywhere — in all directions, millions and even billions of light years. Because there are two trillion galaxies we could observe, the sum of all that for them, more and steeper than the most daring of our ideas. One of the most interesting facts is that all the galaxies that we have ever observed, subject to (on average) the same rules: the farther away they are from us the faster they are removed from us. This discovery made by Edwin Hubble and his colleagues back in the 1920’s, brought us to the picture of the expanding Universe. But what with the fact that it expands? Science knows, and now you know.
The farther we look, the further back in time we look, seeing not yet the developed the Universe. But only if General relativity applied to an expanding Universe
What (where) the universe is expanding?
At first glance this question may seem reasonable. Because everything expands, usually consists of matter and exists in time and space of the Universe. But the universe is space and time containing matter and energy in yourself. When we say “universe is expanding”, we mean the expansion of space itself, in which individual galaxies and clusters of galaxies move away from each other. The easiest way would be to represent the ball of dough with raisins inside, which is baked in a furnace, said Ethan Siegel.
The model of the expanding “rolls” of the Universe, in which the relative distances increase with the expansion of space
This dough — the fabric of space, and the raisins — bound structures (like galaxies or clusters of galaxies). From the point of view of any raisin, all the other Izumi will to snap out of it, and the farther away they are the faster. Only if the Universe furnace and air outside the test; there is only the dough (space) and raisins (substance).
The red shift is created not just receding galaxies, but rather the space between us
How do we know that space is expanding and not the galaxies are moving?
If you see that in all directions from you removed the objects, there is only one reason that can explain this: expanding the space between you and these objects. Also, one would assume that you are near the center of the explosion, and many objects are simply removed further and faster because of the energy of the explosion. If this were so, we could prove it in two ways:
- At large distances and high speeds will be less than galaxies, since they strongly would spread in the space
- The relation of red shift and distance it will take concrete shape at large distances, which will differ from form, if expanding the fabric of space
When we look at large distances, we find that further in the Universe the density of galaxies closer to us. This is consistent with the picture in which the space expands, because look no further — the same thing that look to the past, where there was less expansion. We also find that distant galaxies are relation of red shift and distance corresponding to the expansion of space, and not at all — if galaxy just quickly moving away from us. Science can answer this question in two different ways and both answers support the expansion of the Universe.
Is it always the universe was expanding at the same speed?
We call it the Hubble constant, but it is a constant only in space, not in time. Universe is at present expanding slower than in the past. When we talk about the rate of expansion, we’re talking about speed per unit of distance: around 70 km/s/MPK today. (MPC is megaparsec, about 3 260 000 light years). But the rate of expansion depends on the densities of all things in the Universe, including matter and radiation. With the expansion of the Universe matter and radiation in it become less dense, and with the fall of the density decreases and the rate of expansion. The universe was expanding faster in the past and is slowing down since the Big Bang. The Hubble constant is incorrect name, it should be called the Hubble parameter.
The distant fate of the Universe offer different opportunities, but if dark energy is indeed constant, as shown by the data, we will follow the red curve
Will the universe expand forever or eventually stop?
Several generations of astrophysicists and cosmologists have puzzled over this question, and the answer can only determine the expansion rate of the Universe and all the types (and quantity) of energy present in it. We have successfully measured as a normal matter, radiation, neutrinos, dark matter and dark energy and the expansion rate of the Universe. Based on the laws of physics and what happened in the past, it seems that the universe will expand forever. Although the probability of this is not 100%; if a kind of dark energy will behave differently in the future compared to the past and the present, all of our conclusions have to be revised.
Galaxies are moving faster than the speed of light? Is it not banned?
From our point of view, expanding the space between us and the remote endpoint. The farther it is from us, the faster we think it is removed. Even if the rate of expansion would be a tiny, distant object once crossed the threshold of any speed limit, because the expansion rate (velocity per unit distance) is repeatedly multiplied would be at a sufficient distance. OTO endorses such a scenario. The law that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light applies only to motion through space, and not to the expansion of space. In reality, galaxies themselves are moving at a speed of only a few thousand kilometers per second, far below the limit of 300 000 km/s set by the speed of light. It is the expansion of the Universe causes the recession and the red shift, not the true motion of the galaxy.
Within the limits of the observable Universe (the yellow circle) is about 2 trillion galaxies. Galaxies which are closer than a third of the way to the border, we will never be able to catch up due to the expansion of the Universe. For the development of the forces of the people, only 3% of the volume of the Universe
The expansion of the Universe is a necessary consequence of the fact that matter and energy fill space-time which obeys the laws of General relativity. While there is matter there is gravity, so either gravity wins again will shrink or gravity will win and lose the extension. There is no center of expansion and there is nothing out of space which is expanding; it is the very fabric of the Universe expands. What is most interesting, even if we left Earth at the speed of light today, we could visit only 3% of galaxies in the observable Universe; 97% of them are already out of our reach. The universe is complex.
Five questions about the expansion of the Universe, that you were afraid to ask
Ilya Hel