- CarlG
Is Space Really Infinite?
Can we measure space? We know the Universe is expanding and we can only observe so much of it.
The observable universe extends 46 billion light years in every direction from us.
Infinite or Expanding?
Some of us believe the universe is not infinite, it is only expanding. Yet we cannot measure the entire universe nor can we see its end.
Our Theory
In theory nobody really knows if the universe is infinite or not. Our theory is that the universe might be infinite in the sense that is always expanding at a current rate of 150,000 miles per hour. With our fastest rockets and unlimited fuel it would probably take millions if not billions of years or even more to reach the "end" of the universe. It seems impossible unless we simply teleport to the edge of it miraculously and even then within the hour we could be so far from it again.
If we take into account the billions of years the universe has been churning out stars and planets, all this time the universe has been expanding, the ever so large never ending universe is around 13.7 billion years old, now imagine it expanding at least lets say 50,000 miles per hour for 13.7 billion years, in theory its size is just massive but at the same time it cannot be infinite.
“And then there was the Big Bang”
It all began with an infinitely dense tiny ball of matter, then came the Big Bang expanding the universe. If the universe has been expanding non stop since the Big Bang, does that make the universe infinite? I wouldn't think so, however, the space that the universe is expanding to, is that space empty and void? How big and vast is that space?
Real life comparisons of the universe's sheer size
Think of the universe as our planet, galaxies are but a grain of sand in the ocean, our planet and everything in it is but a microscopic spec of dust.
Now how many specs of dusts and grains of sands are in our planet? More than we can count right?
Do you think there are at least 2 exactly equal grains of sand in all of our planet? I would dare say there are many, grains of sand that are exactly alike, almost perfect to each other if not.
The same conclusion goes with the universe and our planet, the universe being so immense and carrying about millions if not billions of planets, how many of those must be earth-like? I would dare say plenty of them are earth-like. Some scientists mention parallel universes but what they really could mean is that by having so large a chance at a repeat earth, it is very likely that multiple, thousands, millions even billions of earths exist out there somewhere.
Meaning there could be an earth populated by cats, or apes or even another earth where instead of writing I'm a space engineer or WW3 is history and our planet is toast. We might never find out.