Expansion & Big Bang, just some questions

I've read quite a lot about this subject but I'm still none the wiser to be honest.

From what I understand, the general theory is that there was nothing before the big bang, no space, just a singularity than prevents us from theorising about what it was like.

So the big bang happened and everything started to fly away from the central point. This is the part that I'm curious about, when science talks about expansion, is it only the galaxies moving apart that are supposed to be expanding? I ask this because I sometimes get the impression that the fabric of space itself is expanding. If it is just the matter moving apart then there must have been 'space' before the big bang, the singularity must have been sitting in huge empty space. But if the fabric of space was only created by the big bang then there must be a boundry, an end point but what would that be, what is space like when it stops being space?

How do we know that space doesn't go on eternally and just the matter has reached a certain point?

[edit on 22-7-2010 by Frakkerface]

reply to post by Frakkerface


It is said that the Universe is expanding because all the visible matter appears to be moving away from a central point and not only moving away but accelerating.

It is believed that the 'fabric of space' was created by the big bang and it doesn't make sense to imagine what was there before.

There are multiple theories regarding the shape of the Universe. It is likely that the boundary of the Universe is both finite and infinite so you could travel indefinately and never reach the boundary, kind of like trying to find the edge of the Earth.

Also the actual boundary if one exists could be expanding at the speed of light which would effectively make the universe infinite in size.

The short answer is 'we' don't really know for sure. This sort of stuff is guaranteed to make your head hurt.

[edit on 22/7/2010 by LightFantastic]

reply to post by Frakkerface


This is how it happened my friend.

In the beginning there was the infinite dimension of space. This is the dimension we know nothing about. But it must exist.

Keep in mind that this infinite dimension doesn't have finite yet.

Keep in mind that today everything is expanding. It is expanding because of the infinite dimension. Finite is expanding back to what it used to be.

If finite existence is always expanding, it must have been compressed in the beginning.

Now, Lets go back to the infinite dimension. Everything that exists, and that is not infinite must exist within the infinite dimension of space. That can only mean one thing. The infinite dimension compressed it self somehow and created finite existence.

The compression will also explain the expansion. Think about it. It makes a lot more sense than the big bang theory.






[edit on 27.06.08 by spy66]

It depends on your definition of space. Space itself is not a pure vaccuum, there's loads of debris and gas clouds that are so thinly spread out that it seems like a vaccuum in comparison to say, a planet or a star.

Space is the realm where matter is present. This is our Universe, anything where there is no matter present is no more than a multi-dimentional void. As previously stated, one theory is that our Universe is in fact infinite and that you physically cannot leave the Universe. The Universe is a kind of doughnut shape, although as the space bends, we, as part of the Universe bend with it, so to our perspective, we would be travelling in a straight line, whilst returning to the place we started. The trying to find the end of the earth analogy was good, but a better one in my mind is the Pac Man analogy, where, if you imagine the Pac Man screen, if you leave off the right side of the screen, you miraculously appear on the left.

As to what is beyond the Universe or what was there before, well, more intelligent people than you and I have tried and failed to answer that question, it is simply beyond our comprehension.

If you haven't already, I would suggest you read A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. It's a bit of a head bender at times, but understandable to the layman.

reply to post by nik1halo


Are you referring to me?

I dont read science anymore. That just throws you off balance with a lot of distractions.

But i know this: Everything that is not a infinite, must exist within the infinite dimension. Finite can not be infinite. But it will become infinite when it has gone through all its stages of changes.

Finite must have come from the infinite dimension. Therefore it will also become it in the end.

Originally posted by Frakkerface
So the big bang happened and everything started to fly away from the central point. This is the part that I'm curious about, when science talks about expansion, is it only the galaxies moving apart that are supposed to be expanding? I ask this because I sometimes get the impression that the fabric of space itself is expanding.

The fabric of space BETWEEN the galaxies is supposedly expanding, but not within the galaxies.

But if the fabric of space was only created by the big bang then there must be a boundry, an end point but what would that be, what is space like when it stops being space?

How do we know that space doesn't go on eternally and just the matter has reached a certain point?

We don't, and there is some debate about that. The Observable universe is a sphere a little over 13 billion light years in diameter, but due to the expansion of space uring the last 13 billion years, it's believed that objects where the light took 13 billion years to reach us are considerably farther than that now due to the expansion of space:

The age of the Universe is about 13.7 billion years, but due to the expansion of space we are now observing objects that are now considerably farther away than a static 13.7 billion light-years distance. The edge of the observable universe is now located about 46.5 billion light-years away, giving an observable diameter of 93 billion light-years.

The figures quoted above are distances now (in cosmological time), not distances at the time the light was emitted.

78 billion light-years. This is a lower bound for the diameter of the whole Universe, based on the estimated current distance between points that we can see on opposite sides of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR).

So our universe is at least 78 billion light years in diameter and perhaps 93 billion light-years.

Observations made of Dark flow into one particular direction suggest that there may be a large structure outside our observable universe creating the dark flow.

This is a little bit like looking at a horizon on the Earth, except it's a horizon in time and space. We really don't have any way to look past the horizon of the latter right now. But seeing dark flow is sort of watching the mast of a sailboat get lower and lower against the horizon as it sails away, in that it suggests something is beyond the horizon, even if we can't see past it to know what that is.