When we find the edge of the universe I think it will be negative as it will most probably be a sign that the universe has stopped expanding and has begun to contract a sign that the end is near
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This assumes an edge exists.
@ cyberLN
If there is no edge to the universe and it's still expanding what is it expanding into it's self if so then the end is nearer than we think and as we study the expansion of the universe the expansion will crush our galaxy
Jesse Emspak wrote a nice little analogy here:
https://www.livescience.com/33646-universe-edge.html
Think of a two dimensional creature on the surface of the Earth looking for the "edge". While the surface area is finite, it is, from a 2D perspective, unbound. If the Earth started expanding like balloon, the surface area would keep getting bigger, but you would still never find an edge. You could circle over the Earth forever, literally.
Ali,
"the expansion of the universe the expansion will crush our galaxy"
That's not going to happen anytime soon. We're merging with the Andromeda Galaxy in about 4 billion years.
Right now the Milky Way is absorbing several other galaxies, including our own Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy.
And if by "the end is near" you mean within a few million years, it will be a wonder (a "miracle", if you will) if Mankind will still be in existence by then. Soooo it rather makes the whole thing a somewhat moot point. Personally, I think it would actually be WAAAAAY cooler being around to watch the universe collapse in on itself, as opposed to - say - being hit and killed by a freakin' bus while crossing the street.
"being hit and killed by a freakin' bus while crossing the street."
or being hit by a meteor from above and assuming it that god wants that to happen to you..and you just don't dodge it...now thats cool,
or see first hand pavements are cracking and magma comes out of it...or have the moon banging to earth...what a sight would it be..
i think ali is one of those flat earthers....i can feel it in my guts...do you feel it in your guts too t-man?of course you can't you have wires and a motherboard inside you...shhhss..nevertheless i really don't care ali if this edge does exist...really.
you just have to do what you do...
You can't dodge a meteor :) It is likely if you were unlucky enough to be hit by one, you would never even knew it was happening.
And if the "meteor" was big enough to be detected before it hit, and still big enough to "hit you" while you are on land, count yourself as one of the lucky ones that gets to die instantly.
Tin-Man,
"And if by "the end is near" you mean within a few million years, it will be a wonder (a "miracle", if you will) if Mankind will still be in existence by then."
It's a heck of a question when a theist asks when the universe will end. For a theist to even ask such a question indicates a major flaw in religious doctrine. For example, Christians and muslims believe in eternal life in heaven (the golden cube) or in paradise. Now to get to that state everyone has to die and be resurrected on Judgment Day. The world is destroyed and so is the universe. But if Yahweh or Allah is the creator God then what was the point of making over 200 billion galaxies in the observable universe? After all, they only care about a few people on this tiny world in the entire universe.
Maybe a theist of some kind will one day be willing to take a stab at explaining how their hope of eternal life fits into the reality of the universe. After all, Yeshua will be returning any minute once enough believers have been killed for their faith.
@ Qu@si
What do you mean by flat earther
I pick on the magic world of "what if" when the theists use it, I don't see why I would stop now. I will give you the idea that there may actually be an edge to the universe that, at some point, might possibly be observable in the distant future. The universe is expanding at twelve million miles a minute and that's the fastest speed there is. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buqtdpuZxvk )
The question is not as dense as "What if you met God" but at this point in our existence it really is a "What if." The only response to an actual what if is "I don't know." No one can possibly know. And this is a better answer than, "Let's all play the "What If Game." I am an atheist, I just don't have a problem with the "I don't know answer."
Ali, you really need to end your statements with question marks, and turn them more into questions. You come off as you are making a statement, when I think.. you were originally trying to ask a question.
There is no "edge" most likely. We humans like to think in definite terms, finite terms, when we talk about the edge of the expansion of the universe we are entering into the realm of infinite, and in infinity all the rules we know and understand break down. It is also very likely that it is impossible to find the outter confines of the universe. Also if we were to travel to the "edge" of the expanding universe, (if such a thing were possible,) we would literally be bringing the "universe" with us, as we traveled to and "outside it."
Even if, the universe has stopped expanding and was shrinking, it flat out does not matter to us. It is like a single drop of water in the ocean being worried about the tide for the next second, even when the said drop of water is in the middle of the ocean. Only take that time scale and size/quantity scale and make it bigger than you can possibly imagine, (and we cannot even really understand the scope of the vastness of our oceans.)
@ cognostic
If you don't ask questions you will get no answers
Yes Ali, but your original question fell within cosmology. What are you asking atheists?
LOL - And when you ask a silly question? ...... It's actually okay, and certainly not as bad as a God question. We are not going to find an edge to the universe in my life or yours. And I like the assertion that it just may not have an end. There is no reason to assume so. Calling it finite or infinite is the same thing. We really don't know. Calling it Good or Bad is probably really simplistic. It might be like a monster. Really entertaining in a science fiction film but absolutely terrible if you meet one for real. When you talk about the edge of the universe, you are actually "begging the question." You assume your answer in the conclusion. (There is an edge to the universe.) We don't know that. What if what the universe is expanding into is also part of the universe? What if it is the aliens that live outside the universe? What if when we get to the edge of the universe it is giant packmen chomping away on all that is real (Stolen from Stephen King). It really does not matter, the question takes us into the land of make believe with no actual way of responding to it.
The current paradigm describes the universe as at least approximately homogeneous and isotropic on distance scales of about a quarter of a billion light years. Nothing in our daily life has that quality. The result is that when we try to use our common sense ideas (that we got from our daily life) in cosmology, we are being reckless.
As others said above me, there is no real edge of the universe. Yes it keeps expanding, but don't see it like the "edge" being a border that keeps going forward. Think of it as a balloon that's inflating, the space inside it is getting bigger.
Also the universe is actually expanding faster and faster, so it most likely will never stop expanding, just get bigger and bigger until we either get a heat death scenario or a big rip scenario.
Both of these scenarios are literally trillions and trillions of years in the future, we're much closer to the birth of the universe than to its so called "death" so you really shouldn't worry about it.
Ali, I suggest you expand your knowledge of cosmology. Since you are concerned about the shape of the universe (it's geometry will determine the final outcome), Wiki "Shape of the universe".
Apparently the outer universe is expanding faster than the speed of light. That information will never reach us.
Yea, that is why you sometimes hear the phrase observable universe (meaning the region that is not expanding faster than the speed of light, relative to the Earth).
an edge? What are you referring to???