Staff Emeritus . The universe is ever expanding, and if it's at the speed of light (we don't know it isn't), then we will never reach the edge, or even get any closer to it than we already are. Are the galaxies arranged on the surface of a sphere? When astronomers sometimes refer (carelessly!) What would happen if we tried to go past that. The science is much less settled on how that will happen. What would happen when an Alcubierre Drive is sitting at the edge of the universe and pointing away from the universe? ELI5: What would happen if somehow we were able to reach the edge of the universe? Its outer edge moves at half the speed of light. to galaxies "near the edge of the universe," they are referring only to the edge of the OBSERVABLE universe - i.e., the part we can see. Like all black holes, the huge ones are shielded from view by an event horizon. There is a possibility that the universe is shaped like a 4-dimensional bubble, and if you go far enough in one direction you will return to the same place from the other direction. What would happen when an Alcubierre Drive is sitting at the edge of the universe and pointing away from the universe? Logically thinking there is only two possible outcomes: 1) You touch it and you can feel it like an object In this case, if you can feel something, then there has to be something "behind" the edge of the universe. I'll throw out two of them… One is that you, more or less, come out on the other side. ^ back to top. There's no edge, yet that balloon universe has a finite volume. What happens if you had the ability to go further? This is, however, unlikely to happen based on current knowledge, since we’ve recently discovered that the universe appears to be expanding at an accelerating rate. In a non-expanding Universe, as we covered earlier, the maximum distance we can observe is twice the age of the Universe in light years: 27.6 billion light years. The Shape of the Universe. Scientists aren't actually sure whether the universe is finite or infinite, or even what shape the universe is. Astronomy. share . And it is the youngest because it is a snapshot of our newborn universe, long before the first stars and galaxies formed. It's making new space as it grows. As the universe expanded, ... Next, they depend on our being at a special spot at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy and they did not suggest the radiation is isotropic. And if there is still something out there, then it can't be the edge of the Universe 2) Your hand goes through it If it went through it that means there is still space. You're kind of taking for granted that the universe has a stationary edge. This story came from our special January issue, "The Beginning and the End of the Universe.” Click here to purchase the full issue. share. The univere is expanding, but it isn't expanding into anything. save hide report. 58% Upvoted. Physicists have long studied the nature of the universe. There are several schools of thought on this. The Holmdel Horn Antenna on which Penzias and Wilson discovered the cosmic microwave background. 1 2. biire2u. Nothing! Here is what will happen. Support my work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/melodysheep | Get the soundtrack: https://bit.ly/2HKl9fi | How's it all gonna end? Everything you see away from you is always in the past, because it takes time for light to reach you. The universe is expanding, but what's it expanding into? In simple terms, the space between galaxies is also expanding, which drives the edge of the universe further and further from us every single second. Astrophysicist Paul Sutter explains this baffling concept, plus how the universe can expand but not have an edge. Sort by. Physicistsare still doing research to be able to answer questions like this. > Q: If the universe is everything there is, what happens when you get to the edge of the universe? So there’s no real “edge” to the universe. Nothing really happens when you cross it. There's an end ot the universe, but the "edge" implies that there's a line where the universe ends and the not-universe exists. We haven’t even went passed our own galaxy! Have you ever asked “what is beyond the edge of the universe?” And have you ever been told that an infinite universe that has no edge? Just like the horizon on Earth, the cosmic event horizon is a regular place. Explained. Even if we agree that the universe is finite and has an edge, what is at the edge is another topic up for debate. Galaxies are not actually arranged on the surface of a sphere. Science Advisor. save hide report. No. Log in or sign up to leave a comment log in sign up. No one really knows. It *is* conceivable that you might come back into the universe at another point. You were told wrong. submitted by /u/wannabeklutz from newest submissions : AskPhysics https://ift.tt/31mHTvz via IFTTT. Mar 15, 2019 - What Would Happen If a Nuclear Weapon Hit the U.S.? Would you not end up somewhere that exists? The estimates would yield very different predictions if Earth happened to be located elsewhere in the universe. 100% Upvoted. Assuming one could reach the edge of the observable universe, what would happen if you take one step further? The title explains it all, I would love to hear answers or ideas to this. There are three options: spherical, flat, or hyperbolic (that is, it curves upward). One of the strongest theories for the geometry of the universe is that it is like a giant expanding balloon. 21 comments. If you were to go jogging, you would feel more and more exhausted as you jogged towards the edge, because by doing that, you would essentially be distancing yourself more and more from the center of the disc. Since the universe is constantly expanding, and everything around you is older than you are, you must be on the expanding edge of the universe. I realize that the universe expands constantly and that we could never theoretically reach the edge of the universe, but putting that aside: What would happen if an observer go just past the edge? But some go a step further into the unknown (and probably unknowable), contemplating what lies outside the boundaries of our universe. Go BEYOND the Universe’s limits? If it does what would happen if you went past the edge? The balloon analogy is a good example of this. In fact, you are already living at the edge of the universe. The universe has no edge. Gold Member. Beyond a certain distance, light hasn't had time to reach us yet. It is time, not space, which limits our view. The conventional Big Bang theory states that the Universe is expanding from a point of singularity. 9 The Inevitable Heat Death Of The Universe. However, scientists do not know what shape the universe is or what would happen when the photon reaches the"edge" of the universe, if the universe even has an edge. What would they see? share. That likely isn't the case. We're not even sure if the universe will come to a firm, defined end, or just slowly tail … For instance, physicists want to know whether or not the universe is infinite, meaning that it goes on forever. Since this Earth-in-the-sky would logically have to be continuous, wherever you happen to be located at any given moment will be continuously projected in reverse against the "sky" of the universe. Think of heat death as the total opposite of the Big Crunch. The bright patterns show clumps of simple matter that will eventually form stars and galaxies. Lv 7. The effect of this geometry is that looking far enough in any particular direction will cause the same thing to be seen. save hide report. It's just one possibility, however. But the balloon is just one example. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Therefore, to even dream of reaching the edge of the universe, a spaceship would have to go as close as physically possible to the speed of light, somewhere around 99.9999999%. This is as far as we can see into the universe. We only know of the Observable Universe. 0 comments. May 1, 2004 #7 Nereid. Being like everywhere else, there’s nothing to notice. The universe is expanding, however, so the round trip would be impossible if limited to light speed. You are sitting comfortably in your universe… may be not comfortably… because as per the question, you are on the edge…; And you decide to stick your arm out…. The only present is in your brain the instant you form a thought. Close • Posted by 2 minutes ago. 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