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Most of the celestial bodies we know are rotating or spinning on its axis.Is there any chance for the universe to rotate on its axis?

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From what we observe it is extremely unlikely the universe is rotating, but it is a good question nonetheless.

Perhaps you thought that since we see galaxies moving away from us they could be being pulled outwards as a result of the rotation. All the galaxies we observe (outside the local group) are accelerating away from us, and this includes galaxies in all parts of the universe. If the universe were like a giant spinning cylinder (or whatever object you like) then the galaxies "above" and "below" us in the cylinder would appear stationary since they are rotating at the same radius.

This observation does not support the claim that the universe is spinning on some invisible axis.

As always we should remember that our local universe may not represent the entire cosmos, and we would in fact be spinning around some axis. As more observational evidence is gathered we understand more and more about the universe, and one would be foolish to rule out a theory based on current observational evidence.

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  • $\begingroup$ The universe could be expanding AND rotating at the same time. Even objects on the same radius would then be observed to move away from us. $\endgroup$
    – Mausy5043
    Apr 14, 2018 at 9:51
  • $\begingroup$ Hubble's law does not appear to depend on direction. There is no obvious axis. $\endgroup$
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Apr 6, 2019 at 15:29
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    $\begingroup$ Simultaneous rotation about two orthogonal axes could make the rotational component of expansion even out in all directions? $\endgroup$
    – StayOnTarget
    Apr 27, 2020 at 10:33
  • $\begingroup$ I have read that the measurements of the cosmic microwave background indicate that the Universe has a flat geometry on large scales. Flat geometry, by the way, allows to hypothesize that Universe could be thought as a disk (?). $\endgroup$
    – Alex
    Jul 17, 2021 at 18:48
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I wondered the same thing until I focused my studies on the "cosmological axis of evil" regarding the CMB. It appears that some cosmologists believe that due to the fact the Cosmic Microwave Background appears to have an axis, this alludes to the expansion of the Universe having a rotation. Similar to how the earth rotates upon an axis. This, however, is not widely accepted.

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As long as we are in the universe, we'll be unable to determine if the universe is rotating or not. To decide whether an object is rotating, we need some other object for reference. Since universe is a term which includes everything we know in space, we don't have a reference to watch the universe relative to, to answer this question.

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    $\begingroup$ Unlike linear motion, rotation can be measured absolutely without an external reference. $\endgroup$
    – pericynthion
    Oct 11, 2014 at 19:41
  • $\begingroup$ Wouldn't there be hints of a rotational motion of the cosmos? Like unexplained gravitational phenomena? We could call it "dark matter"..... $\endgroup$
    – Mausy5043
    Apr 14, 2018 at 9:49

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