Questions tagged [expansion]

Questions about the increase with time of distance between two distant points in the Universe.

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Does dark energy increase eccentricity in orbits of galaxies?

I came across this thesis dissertation which indicates that if a pair of orbiting galaxies are sufficiently far apart (with a sufficiently large orbital radius) then their orbits would change from ...
vengaq's user avatar
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-1 votes
2 answers
146 views

Why is the Milky Way today about the same diameter as the visible universe was when recombination happened 378000 years after the Big Bang?

Has the Milky Way undergone an expansion of space time independent of the universe as a whole or did the gas that created the Milky Way heat up and expand? Whatever the answer, why the current ...
user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

How long has it been since dark energy started to reverse our slowdown and accelerate the expansion of the universe? 4 billion years ago? 4.5? 5?

Or has it been as long as six billion years? Over the last few years I keep seeing longer and longer numbers... Have researchers noticed something different recently? Or found a mistake in their ...
Kurt Hikes's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
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Why can't dark energy be considered a 5th fundamental force?

So I have recently been researching for multiple articles about fundamental forces, currently there are just 4 forces: Gravity Electromagnetism Strong nuclear force Weak nuclear force So far there ...
Furious Arcturus's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
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ER=EPR and information fuelling cosmic expansion

I apologize in advance for the lack of education, I'm a Canadian hillbilly. I was considering the concepts of ER=EPR and the growth of the black hole's internal system with the addition of information ...
ChristainJP's user avatar
45 votes
1 answer
49k views

Shouldn't very very distant objects appear magnified?

My understanding of the expansion of space itself is very shaky, but if space itself is expanding, then shouldn't very very distant objects appear magnified? For example these James Webb Space ...
orion elenzil's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
72 views

Could both the high incidence of supermassive Black Holes (BH) and the expansion of the universe be consequences of vacuum entanglement energy?

The notion that spacetime may emerge from entanglement between factors comprising a Hilbert space decomposition of the vacuum has been suggested by many (for example, M. Van Raamsdonk “Building up ...
RalphW's user avatar
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19 votes
2 answers
3k views

Could we (Earth, Humanity, Solar System) be falling into a black hole?

With the expansion of the universe, all objects far away from us appear to be moving away (ie: exhibit Redshift). With distance, this acceleration / redshift also seems to increase (~73,000 (m/s) / (...
G. Putnam's user avatar
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If astronomers didn't know about redshift could we still determine the universe is expanding?

What other evidence is there for the expansion of the universe? Would the equations of physics look wrong without it?
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1 vote
2 answers
377 views

Does space expand?

I know this has been asked and here are the links of at least two. The first link below is what I thought was the standard description. What does it mean for space to expand? Now by accident while ...
Sedumjoy's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
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How far apart has the sun drifted from Alpha Centari due to the expansion of the universe since its formation?

From what I read Alpha Centauri formed 250 million years before the sun which was 4.85 billion years. So how far apart were they when the sun formed vs what they are now? The expansion of the universe ...
Sedumjoy's user avatar
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5 answers
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How do we know the expansion of the universe is not centered around our position?

It is my understanding that the red shift of galaxies in whatever direction we look shows the universe is expanding in every direction around us. That could be explained in two ways: A (accepted): The ...
armand's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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Seeking Guidance & Tips for Collaboration on a Cosmological Project Involving Potential Energy Variation Due to Cosmic Expansion

I'm a student with a deep interest in cosmology and astrophysics. I've embarked on a project and am seeking some guidance, insights, or even ways that I could look for possible collaboration on this ...
Aaron Schramm's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
1k views

Could the redshift of all incoming photons be explained by a massive ring of distant masses pulling the sources of the photons away?

ChatGPT and wikipedia have informed me that the primary evidence for the theory that the universe is expanding is the fact that photons that arrive to our planet from all directions are being ...
Hisham's user avatar
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1 answer
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Critical density of universe with intrinsic spatial curvature

$H^2 = \frac{8 \pi G}{3}\rho-\frac{kc^2}{a^2}$ Shown above is the first Friedmann equation. I understand that the curvature parameter, k, represents the spatial curvature of the universe which is ...
Scott's user avatar
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where are we in the universe as compared to the observable universe? [duplicate]

For distant galaxies to be accelerating away at equal speed in every direction, Earth would have to be at the centre of the universe. Since it is not, some region of the distant galaxies should appear ...
Clifford Lingwood's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
228 views

Conditions in the Early Universe

I am interested in how the large-scale properties of the Universe change over time. Does anyone know a trusted website which gives the temperature, density and radius (distance to the particle horizon)...
John Davies's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
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Can the expansion of the universe cool my beer?

So the expansion of the universe stretches the light traveling through the void, as demonstrated by the cosmic microwave background radiation. These photons are lower energy than when they are ...
Yakk - Adam Nevraumont's user avatar
21 votes
2 answers
4k views

What equation tells you how far in space you can go from a point and return?

We know that hubble expansion increases the distance between points in space, and that the cosmological event horizon represents the distance from the observer at which objects are receding faster ...
user52978's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Does the expansion of space stretch the space-time fabric?

This question appeared to me when I was thinking about General Relativity. During the expansion of space, the space in which particles reside is expanded. Now, general relativity states gravity is the ...
Naveen V's user avatar
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1 answer
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Can the curvature of a closed universe be measured?

Suppose we were in a closed universe likened with a spherical surface such as that of the Earth's surface. Assume also that the limits, represented by the limits of the observable universe, ...
Mikael Jensen's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
91 views

Coasting universe Hubble parameter behaviour

I’ve recently been trying to wrap my head around the potential behaviours of the Hubble parameter over time for various cosmological models but I’ve run into a little snag when it comes to a coasting ...
Scott's user avatar
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15 votes
9 answers
6k views

How do we know we're not getting bigger?

Alright so I've been thinking a lot about how the universe expands and I've always wondered if we're getting bigger as well. Since everything would be getting larger at an equal rate (tools of ...
Landon's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
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Gas heating due to high viscosity?

Has there been any observation where a gas or a fluid expands following the Hubble flow (the expansion of the universe) and gets heated because it has a large viscosity (transforming its kinetic ...
vengaq's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Expansion-Collapse cycle in cosmological structures?

Concerning cosmological structures (like galaxies, clusters of galaxies, gas bodies, superclusters...etc) if the elements that make them are close enough they will be attracted towards each other by ...
vengaq's user avatar
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3 votes
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Kinetic energy in cosmology?

Spacetime expands at an accelerated rate due to the Hubble flow. In many papers that I've read, objects coupled to the Hubble flow are treated as if they have some velocity and kinetic energy ...
vengaq's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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Can objects join the Hubble flow for a given amount of time and then somehow abandon it?

When two objects (e.g. two galaxies) are sufficiently far apart, they join the Hubble flow and they get further away from each other. Normally, this would last "forever" (until, from the ...
vengaq's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
54 views

Critical density and Hubble parameter

Is it possible for the Hubble parameter of an /expanding/ universe made of radiation, matter and cosmological constant to be increasing with time? I'm trying to figure out if any form of scale factor $...
ABC's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
200 views

Farthest distance two objects are "gravitationally bounded", considering expansion of the Universe

The narrative is: "on greater scales the expansion of the Universe dominates, but on smaller scales gravitationally bounded objects still stay bounded". But how small is meant by "...
Heopps's user avatar
  • 647
2 votes
0 answers
71 views

Limits of the universe

I am considering the limit in the expanding universe where the expansion matches the speed of light. If we consider that the expansion is accelerating, how will the situation be after the next 14 ...
Mikael Jensen's user avatar
-3 votes
2 answers
201 views

Does gravitational lensing disprove the cosmic expansion theory [closed]

Recently there was a picture from the JWST that showed a galaxy that was 12.5 billion light years away. Its light had been lensed by a galaxy that was 5 billion light years away. In a static universe ...
Michael Mcgarry's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
263 views

Would an observer standing at the edge of the "observable universe" perceive the expansion of space-time?

I got this bizarre idea in my mind, after reading SCP-3321 There, as a person gets teleported through a wormhole, ends up at the edge of the Observable Universe, 46 billion light-years away from Earth....
Furious Arcturus's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
78 views

Deviations of conservation laws in the context of cosmological evolution?

If energy is "not conserved" in General Relativity (or at least, it is difficult to define it) in the context of an accelerating expanding spacetime (like it happens in our Universe), are ...
vengaq's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
795 views

Why would galaxies (and galaxy clusters) be unaffected by the expansion of space?

"Gravity holds galaxies and cluster of galaxies together, and they get farther away from each other--without themselves changing in size--as the universe expands." Quoted from the OpenStax ...
GulbenkianD's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
69 views

How do we know universe is expanding and not light slowing down? [duplicate]

We tend to take some things for granted, for example the light of speed is constant, but what if it isn't? How can we know that light is not slowing down at great distances for example, or that light ...
Dimitris's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
191 views

Why is the Hubble parameter constant for an accelerating universe?

The Hubble parameter is thought to become constant and to attain a value of about 60 km/s per parsec. So every second a parsec of space grows with 60km. Is this consistent with an accelerated ...
Felicia's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
110 views

Distance of distant galaxies

Can two galaxies, one with a redshift of 7 and the other a redshift of 8 have the same angular distance (distance from the Earth during the emission of the observed photons)? If not why ? Example: ...
Sebastyen Laroche's user avatar
14 votes
3 answers
2k views

Does a measuring stick with a size of a billion lightyears in intergalactic space keep the same length in expanding space?

Imagine a measuring stick (a rod or ruler) made of ordinary matter which has a length of a billion lightyears. The space surrounding the ruler expands. Will the ruler keep the same length by the ...
Gerald's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
97 views

Will dark energy always repulse observable/dark matter?

We know that the universe is expanding at an increasing accelerated rate, but the ratio of dark energy to observable matter remains constant as dark energy remains constant (please correct me on this)....
Ed_Gravy's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
106 views

Calculating the "Turnaround Point," where expansion dominates over gravity

I'm trying to understand the point where the expansion of space dominates over gravity, but I'm coming up empty handed when searching the internet. Specifically, I'm trying to find the math for it. I'...
Richtopia's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
105 views

Can virtual particles with zero energy and non-zero momentum contribute to dark energy?

I know this is actually a physics question, but I can't ask anything there anymore and the same problem walks on my side on other forums... So, I take my chance to ask it here. A virtual particle is ...
Felicia's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
454 views

Why is the CMB's redshift so high?

It is pretty well-established that the CMB was originally emitted around 380,000 years after the Big Bang, at a redshift of ~1100. The most distant known object is HD1, the light from which was ...
Max's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
233 views

Expansion rate of an infinite universe at the Big Bang

If the universe is infinitely large, then any two arbitrarily distant points must have been arbitrarily close together at some earlier point in time. Doesn't that mean that the expansion rate of the ...
T Scherer's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
288 views

How far away from us was Earendel star when it emitted the light that is just now reaching us?

From what I've read, the look back time is about 12.9 billion light years, and the current distance to the Earendel star is approximately 28 billion light years... How close to us was it when it ...
Kurt Hikes's user avatar
  • 4,891
2 votes
1 answer
141 views

Strange plot in Max Tegmark book, Our Mathematical Universe

In Max Tegmark's book, Our Mathematical Universe, we can find (in chapter 5, figure 5.3) the following (horrible and poor quality) plot that is supposed to highlight the extreme sensitivity of the ...
Vincent ISOZ's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
819 views

Can the Event Horizon Telescope been used to find intergalactic distances?

Now that we have the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), why can't we just guess and check intergalactic distances by changing the EHT's focal length? For instance why don't we take another picture of M87,...
Caston's user avatar
  • 319
17 votes
11 answers
4k views

Is there physical evidence to distinguish between the expansion of space and an anthropocentric universe?

When we look in all directions, we see distant objects red-shifted, with the size of the red-shift correlated with the distance from us. As I understand it, the consensus among cosmologists is that ...
Brionius's user avatar
  • 331
6 votes
1 answer
270 views

Can we consider the Universe to be some kind of 3-sphere?

This is probably a naive question. I'm learning a bit of cosmology and I've recently covered the so called angular size-redshift relation, which states that in an expanding Universe the angular size ...
Swike's user avatar
  • 3,856
2 votes
1 answer
257 views

Why are galaxies thought to get bigger with distance in an expanding universe model?

In an expanding universe model. In addition to galaxies getting fainter with distance, they are also thought to get bigger. Thus the surface brightness of the object should decrease with distance. ...
Tivity's user avatar
  • 129
1 vote
3 answers
305 views

Does dark energy make galaxies expand over long periods of time?

Does dark energy expand galaxies slightly over time? I would think this could be verified easily (observe if galaxies far away / further in the past smaller and denser), and might make a good ...
Jonathan's user avatar
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