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Looking up at a clear night sky , you see stars in every counseling . It almost feel as if you ’re at the center of the world . But are you ? And if not , where is the center of the existence ?
The universe , in fact , has no marrow . Ever sincethe adult Bang13.7 billion year ago , the cosmos has been expand . But despite its name , the Big Bang was n’t an explosion thatburst outwards from a fundamental point of detonation . The universe take up out extremely compact and flyspeck . Then every point in the universe expanded equally , and that continues today . And so , without any point of origin , the universe has no center of attention .
The universe is incredibly vast, but where exactly is the center? It turns out there is none.
One way to think about this is to imagine a two - dimensional emmet that lives on the surface of a perfectly spherical balloon . From the emmet ’s point of view , everywhere on the aerofoil look the same . There is no centeronthe sphere ’s open , nor is there an edge .
Related : Does the sun go around ?
If you inflate the balloon , the ant will see its two - dimensionaluniverse expand . take out window pane on the surface , and they will move away from one another , just like the galaxies in our real universe do .
The universe is incredibly vast, but where exactly is the center? It turns out there is none.
For the ant in this two - dimensional universe , any third property that extend perpendicular to the balloon ’s surface – like trip into the center of the balloon – has no physical signification .
" It know it can go forward and backward . It can go left and right , " said Barbara Ryden , an astrophysicist at The Ohio State University . " But it has no concept of up and down . "
Our universe is a 3D variant of the emmet ’s 2D balloon universe . But the balloon analogy , with its limited surface area , represent a finite universe — which cosmologists still are n’t sure is true of our own , Ryden allege . Limited by how far light has travel since the Big Bang , cosmologist ' observations offer only a finite glance of the cosmos , but the entire macrocosm could be infinite .
If that ’s the case , then you may replace the balloon with a flat , expanding rubber tabloid that extends forever . Or if you need to think of a 3D cosmos , think an numberless loaf of raisin bread that ’s continuously expanding . The raisins , in this pillowcase , represent the galaxies flying away from one another . " If the universe is infinite , " Ryden told Live Science , " there is no centre of attention . "
Whether the universe is flat or curved depends on the total amount of mass and energy in the world . If the spate and energy denseness of the universe is just right — at the so - called decisive concentration — then the universe would be flat like a sheet , expanding at a steady accelerating rate .
But if the concentration is higher , then the cosmos would be arc like the balloon . The additional graveness from this increase compactness would slow cosmic expanding upon , eventually fetch that development to a stop .
Meanwhile , at less than this critical density , cosmic expansion would accelerate even more . In this scenario , the world would have damaging curve , with a shape somewhat like a saddleback . It would still be innumerable , however , and thus without a center .
So far , theoretical idea and reflection — such as those of thecosmic microwave oven backgroundradiation , the afterglow from the Big Bang — point to a remarkably matt creation . But cosmologists still are n’t sure if the existence is indeed flat or if the curve is so wide that the macrocosm only appear flat — similar to howEarth feels flaton the control surface .
— What will happen to Earth when the sun dies ?
— Why are galaxies different shapes ?
— How long is a astronomical yr ?
That the universe has no nitty-gritty — and , by elongation , no boundary — is logical with the cosmological principle , the melodic theme that no seat in the universe is special . Observations of how galaxy clusters are circularize and the cosmic microwave desktop disclose a world that , when you zoom out far enough , does indeed look the same everywhere .
Throughout chronicle , humans have wrongly thought we were at or near the centerfield of the macrocosm — whether that centre was the Earth , the sun or eventhe Milky Way galaxy . But no matter how special we humans consider we are , the existence has , so far , shown otherwise .
in the beginning published onLive Science .
