If an observer on Earth were to travel in a straight (subjective) line in some direction, at the speed of light, out into space, what would happen? How long would the journey last? Would the visual spectacle not change much throughout?
The area I’m driving at is the paradoxical concept of “the boundary of the universe”. The only other answer I’ve heard is that the observer would eventually come back to where he started, but I’m not happy with this.
You should be because its the best we got at this moment .
Its based on the theory (yes its a thoery right now, not a FACT like evolution is) that space is bent in on itself. Carl Sagan does a wonderful job explaining this in his documentaries “Cosmos” and for now its very plausible that it is so.
If you want me to i’ll try and explain more because i can but i’m quite busy at the moment.
These are the fields of science where we’re only just scraching the surface right now and as long as you got a decent understanding of the theories so far and the science behind them the discussions are deeply curious and splendid.
Now imagine it dipped in gasoline and lit on fire.
The exterior surface area of the entire object we’ve conceptualized can be comparable to the effect of gravity on the shape of the universe if you can imagine that fire to exist without gravity.
I don’t think you’d come back to where you start so much as simply experience an endless type scenario wherein you’re constantly navigating the gravitic folds of the flame as is burns the entropic oxygen of the cosmos.
The speed if light is an universal constant; matter cannot move faster than the speed of light; at least thats what Einstein said.
Now given, our galaxy is also moving away from other galaxies and very high speeds and it is the 2 speeds of the galaxies combined that would be “faster than the speed of light”; one galaxy on its own cannot exceed the “speed limit”.
So what i’m saying is that you can reach any galaxy moving away from you because no galaxy can move faster than the speed of light; its probably only a little over half of that.
And because time slows down when you move close to the speed of light if we build a ship that would be able to reach 96% of the speed of light then in ~56 ship years we will have crossed the known universe !
LOL~ amaizingly enough it is up to you to understand, not my level on intelligence but a simple coherent theory.
YES it will take 2.2 million light years for us to reach the next galaxy traveling at the speed of light… IF and only IF you stay on Earth; If you’re abord the ship which goes very close to the speed of light a little over 2 months will have passed probably less.
Remember; Time is relative and it SLOWS DOWN if you get really close to the speed of light.
Even if on Earth its been 2.2 million years since you left; for you getting there (2.2 million years later) it would only be something like 2 months, possibly alot less.
Traveling at the speed of light is not just movement in space but it is movement forward in time aswell FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE ON THE SHIP.
How Fast is the Universe Expanding?
Please explain how fast the Universe is expanding.
It appears that the Universe is expanding at 80 km/sec/Mpc (statistical error = 17 km/sec/Mpc), as calculated by the Hubble Space Telescope’s Key Project team (Mpc is megaparsec = 3.26 million light years). What this means is that objects will, on the average, be moving away from us at 80 km/sec for every megaparsec it is away from us. So another galaxy that is 1 Mpc away will be moving away from us at about 80 km/sec, and one that is 10 Mpc away will be moving at about 800 km/sec.
Same site:
Universe Expands Faster Than Light?
Did the Universe expand faster than light? If not, why does light, up to 12 billion years old, reach us only now?
The Universe did not expand faster than light. The Universe was big enough 12 billion years ago that the light from some distant objects is only getting to us now. That doesn’t mean that the Universe was more than 12 billion light years wide 12 billion years ago. Because we’re moving away from the object, the light has had to catch up to us.
You’re gonna run into something, and you’ll do it immediately. It doesn’t matter how far away it is, you’ll be there in an instant. To you, the universe is a doughnut; well, maybe not a doughnut, more like a balloon with both sides pin together in your direction of travel. Ahead of you, the light is unbearably bright; behind you is darkness; for an instant.