If the Universe is Expanding...

What does it mean to say that the Universe is expanding? If EVERY thing in the universe is expanding, or getting bigger, then that means we're all getting bigger. We wouldn't notice that we were getting bigger because everything around us is also getting bigger and at the same rate. Know what I mean? It's crazy to think about.

Originally posted by smithjustinb
What does it mean to say that the Universe is expanding? If EVERY thing in the universe is expanding, or getting bigger, then that means we're all getting bigger. We wouldn't notice that we were getting bigger because everything around us is also getting bigger and at the same rate. Know what I mean? It's crazy to think about.

I think it just means the space within the universe is expanding.. not the objects within the space.. just space itself.. A lot of scientists think of the universe not as infinite but as a bubble, and so imagine the bubble as getting larger, not the molecules inside the bubble.

What confounds me is trying to imagine what is beyond the bubble? .. is it "nothing" ? I know we as humans can't comprehend nothingness..

I suppose this is where the bubble multi-verse theory comes in .. which says that other universes exist in other bubbles and that sometimes these bubbles can merge

yea, sure the universe is expanding... they say
they also say, because every other galaxy moves away from us
wait a sec !!! what about Andromeda? Milky Way is on collision course with Andromeda
and what about other observed galactic collisions?
expanding Universe, right

It doesn't matter, case in point; A pizza shop on a block advertises it has the best pizza on the planet!, down the block another pizza joint advertises it has the best pizza in the universe, and further down the block a modest little pizza shop simply states it has the best pizza on the block.

reply to post by KrzYma


Why would everything be moving in the same direction? That's a simplistic view of things.

Originally posted by KrzYma
yea, sure the universe is expanding... they say
they also say, because every other galaxy moves away from us
wait a sec !!! what about Andromeda? Milky Way is on collision course with Andromeda
and what about other observed galactic collisions?
expanding Universe, right

While I'm not necessarily in agreement about an expanding universe, the collision of galaxies doesn't exclude the possibility of an overall expansion. Imagine a cloud of gas that's dissipating - within it will certainly be some collision, but over time the averaged motion results in an expansion outward in all directions.

reply to post by smithjustinb


The most accurate illustration of how the universe is expanding is the raisin bread example. You have a clump of dough with raisins in it that you put in the oven. As it bakes, the dough expands, and the expanding dough causes the raisins to get further apart, while the raisins, themselves, stay the same size. In this example, the raisins are galaxies/stars/whatever, and the dough is the "empty" space between them. Space is expanding (so the distances between objects not gravitationally bound are increasing), but the matter in space is not.

I don't believe "them", is the Universe expanding or not.
I don't believe Einstein or others who push and stretch a theory to keep it alive.
I don't believe Light Speed is constant course it changes with mass.
I don't believe in Black Matter or Black Energy or whatever they need to keep RT alive

time for corrections!

If we are expanding then why can i set my watch to the sun
why are days not getting longer..

what if every thing we are told is a lie..

Edit: wrong post

reply to post by KrzYma


Offer some, science based ones.

Originally posted by mkkkay
If we are expanding then why can i set my watch to the sun

why are days not getting longer..

what if every thing we are told is a lie..

What if we took a moment and read ATS member CLPrime's post above?

Short, concise and to the point as always.

post by CLPrime

reply to post by Drunkenparrot


It doesn't explain collisions.

reply to post by mkkkay


The days are getting longer but that has nothing to do with the universe expanding, it has to do with the earth's rotation slowly slowing, and the moon slowly receding away from earth. In the days of the dinosaurs the day was almost just 22 hours long, so the year was about 400 days. The earth spun so fast that 4 billion years ago a day was around 7 hours long, and the moon went from full to new in 2 weeks.

reply to post by Illustronic


I would LOVE to, but...
no time, no money
and try to buy some stuff for experiments, no way! you end up in a jail being juried for dangerous stuff, at least where I live

so I stick to paying taxes, my ordinarily work and try to have fun while waiting for my end.

Originally posted by Illustronic
reply to post by Drunkenparrot

 

It doesn't explain collisions.

In my raisin bread example... if the raisins were allowed to freely float around, would some not collide?
Galaxies are in no way fixed in place as the universe expands around them. They have their own proper motion, and the expansion of the universe doesn't become significant until quite far out. This allows galaxies within several million light-years of each other to very easily collide every once in a while.

Originally posted by Drunkenparrot

Originally posted by mkkkay
If we are expanding then why can i set my watch to the sun

why are days not getting longer..

what if every thing we are told is a lie..

What if we took a moment and read ATS member CLPrime's post above?

Short, concise and to the point as always.

post by CLPrime

edit on 19-5-2011 by Drunkenparrot because: (no reason given)

Ya i did twice now, whats your point
if i read it correctly the daugh expands, distansing the raisins further a part.
if we are (the earth) a raisin and the sun also, why can i set my watch to it.

I like the toth of miniatus better, at least
i can set my watch to it.

Originally posted by mkkkay
If we are expanding then why can i set my watch to the sun

why are days not getting longer..

what if every thing we are told is a lie..

Because maybe the gears in you watch are expanding too.

What if a bubble pops?

reply to post by miniatus


That would mean that there was some kind of pressure beyond the bubble, otherwise, the bubble wouldn't hold it's shape.

Many of them here are confusing expanding universe with the expanding earth theory