My OperaThe Universe
Sunday, July 11, 2010 2:07:53 PM
As I stated in an earlier post, the classroom I was assigned to in the sixth grade was windowless and that my daydreaming suffered greatly that year. I had nothing much better to do than doodle, or hum and doodle, but there were times when that was boring and I listened to the teacher, Mrs. Fuller.
On one such occasion Mrs. Fuller was informing the class that space had no end, that it went on and on in every direction. Now, some things you hear spoken just get the wheels turning in you mind. I quickly analyzed that statement and envisioned a brick wall at the edge of space.
"So is not infinite.", I thought.
I jumped up and blurted out, "There has to be a wall out there someplace!"
Mrs Fuller turned around looked me dead in the eyes and asked, "What is on the other side of the wall, David?" (That was the first and only time I was not sat in the dunce chair, or a corner, or given a writing project for speaking out without permission.)
It was my first jaw dropping moment when the realization that all walls had something on the other side. I sank back into the seat of my desk, breathless and flabbergasted and started trying to imagine endlessness.
I have never stopped thinking about this. Later in life I learned that our universe is expanding, getting larger and larger in every direction at the same time. I have imagined this expansion must be like the forth of July fireworks. If we go somewhere out into space and set off one of those fireworks would it expand forever? I learned about the "big Bang" theory and have pondered that many hours, as well, wondering if it were like a big firework blast.
Later I learned that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, the expansion is happening faster and faster and scientists do not know why. Another interesting fact is; this expanding universe is approximately 13.7 Billion years old. That is a large number and only implies that had our solar system been formed at the instant of the big bang, that the earth would have made 13.7 billion trips around the sun. I think we need a better measure, how many times the Milky Way galaxy has rotated on it's axis since the big bang. That is merely my attempt to make the numbers smaller.
I have thought about all this over the years, my mind has expanded enough to envision myself as an observer about 13.7 billion light years (light years because I assume the light from the expanding universe is that far out into the emptiness of what the universe is expanding into) away from the edge of the expanding universe, watching. I am right at the edge of the light shinning out into the emptiness, moving in the same direction and at the same velocity with the acceleration to match the expansion. Do I see the light of the big bang, or the light of the galaxies on the edge of the universe?
I speed up and go to 15 billion light years from the edge of the expanding universe. I will see no light for 1.3 billion years.
I wonder where the big bang happened. Where in the universe is that central point where everything started. I think there should be empty space there,a void, because all the matter was ejected and is now expanding further and further away from the point of origin.
The Red Shift is another aspect I have pondered. (That is how we know the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate.) It is reasonable for me to think, as we observe a galaxy moving away from our galaxy, our galaxy is moving away form the observed galaxy at about the same rate in a different direction. Regardless of the law that states nothing can move faster than the speed of light, our observation point is not stationary,some or all, of the accelerated rate of expansion (Red Shift) is caused by the two objects moving apart from each other at the same rate in opposite directions.
Now, if that is not the case, the only other explanation I have pondered is; the big bang is not over. Who says an explosion can not last forever? This means that at the point of origin, new matter is constantly being blown out into the expanse of space, this is the Force that is causing the universe to continue to expand at an accelerating rate.
I will keep thinking, I always have, as long as there is a window or a sky to stare into.
On one such occasion Mrs. Fuller was informing the class that space had no end, that it went on and on in every direction. Now, some things you hear spoken just get the wheels turning in you mind. I quickly analyzed that statement and envisioned a brick wall at the edge of space.
"So is not infinite.", I thought.
I jumped up and blurted out, "There has to be a wall out there someplace!"
Mrs Fuller turned around looked me dead in the eyes and asked, "What is on the other side of the wall, David?" (That was the first and only time I was not sat in the dunce chair, or a corner, or given a writing project for speaking out without permission.)
It was my first jaw dropping moment when the realization that all walls had something on the other side. I sank back into the seat of my desk, breathless and flabbergasted and started trying to imagine endlessness.
I have never stopped thinking about this. Later in life I learned that our universe is expanding, getting larger and larger in every direction at the same time. I have imagined this expansion must be like the forth of July fireworks. If we go somewhere out into space and set off one of those fireworks would it expand forever? I learned about the "big Bang" theory and have pondered that many hours, as well, wondering if it were like a big firework blast.
Later I learned that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, the expansion is happening faster and faster and scientists do not know why. Another interesting fact is; this expanding universe is approximately 13.7 Billion years old. That is a large number and only implies that had our solar system been formed at the instant of the big bang, that the earth would have made 13.7 billion trips around the sun. I think we need a better measure, how many times the Milky Way galaxy has rotated on it's axis since the big bang. That is merely my attempt to make the numbers smaller.
I have thought about all this over the years, my mind has expanded enough to envision myself as an observer about 13.7 billion light years (light years because I assume the light from the expanding universe is that far out into the emptiness of what the universe is expanding into) away from the edge of the expanding universe, watching. I am right at the edge of the light shinning out into the emptiness, moving in the same direction and at the same velocity with the acceleration to match the expansion. Do I see the light of the big bang, or the light of the galaxies on the edge of the universe?
I speed up and go to 15 billion light years from the edge of the expanding universe. I will see no light for 1.3 billion years.
I wonder where the big bang happened. Where in the universe is that central point where everything started. I think there should be empty space there,a void, because all the matter was ejected and is now expanding further and further away from the point of origin.
The Red Shift is another aspect I have pondered. (That is how we know the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate.) It is reasonable for me to think, as we observe a galaxy moving away from our galaxy, our galaxy is moving away form the observed galaxy at about the same rate in a different direction. Regardless of the law that states nothing can move faster than the speed of light, our observation point is not stationary,some or all, of the accelerated rate of expansion (Red Shift) is caused by the two objects moving apart from each other at the same rate in opposite directions.
Now, if that is not the case, the only other explanation I have pondered is; the big bang is not over. Who says an explosion can not last forever? This means that at the point of origin, new matter is constantly being blown out into the expanse of space, this is the Force that is causing the universe to continue to expand at an accelerating rate.
I will keep thinking, I always have, as long as there is a window or a sky to stare into.
