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Questions tagged [space-expansion]

The expansion of the universe is a phenomenon wherein, at scales much larger than galaxies, the distance between objects grows over time. This phenomenon is often described as "expansion of space", although there is no difference between space expanding and objects moving apart.

194 votes
15 answers
31k views

Why does space expansion not expand matter?

I have looked at other questions on this site (e.g. "why does space expansion affect matter") but can't find the answer I am looking for. So here is my question: One often hears talk of space ...
SoulmanZ's user avatar
  • 2,055
68 votes
5 answers
16k views

Can space expand with unlimited speed?

According to this article on the European Space Agency web site just after the Big Bang and before inflation the currently observable universe was the size of a coin. One millionth of a second later ...
cziko's user avatar
  • 783
65 votes
8 answers
11k views

Why is the observable universe so big?

The observable universe is approximately 13.7 billion years old. But yet it is 80 billion light years across. Isn't this a contradiction?
Thomas O's user avatar
  • 3,197
25 votes
2 answers
8k views

How does the Hubble parameter change with the age of the universe?

How does the Hubble parameter change with the age of the universe? This question was posted recently, and I had almost finished writing an answer when the question was deleted. Since it's a shame to ...
John Rennie's user avatar
30 votes
5 answers
6k views

If the universe is expanding, what is it expanding into? [closed]

If the universe is expanding, what is it expanding into? When the big bang happened where did it occur? When the big bang happened how did it occur? Where did the energy come from? Energy can not be ...
raklos's user avatar
  • 441
38 votes
4 answers
5k views

Redshifting of Light and the expansion of the universe

So I have learned in class that light can get red-shifted as it travels through space. As I understand it, space itself expands and stretches out the wavelength of the light. This results in the light ...
QEntanglement's user avatar
26 votes
7 answers
4k views

Why did the universe not collapse to a black hole shortly after the big bang?

Wasn't the density of the universe at the moment after the Big Bang so great as to create a black hole? If the answer is that the universe/space-time can expand anyway what does it imply about what ...
pferrel's user avatar
  • 517
18 votes
4 answers
13k views

Does time expand with space? (or contract)

Einstein's big revelation was that time and space are inseparable components of the same fabric. Physical observation tells us that distant galaxies are moving away from us at an accelerated rate, and ...
Loourr's user avatar
  • 948
24 votes
3 answers
16k views

Photons in expanding space: how is energy conserved? [duplicate]

If a photon (wave package) redshifts (stretches) travelling in our expanding universe, is its energy reduced? If so, where does that energy go?
IljaBek's user avatar
  • 833
16 votes
2 answers
5k views

How can a quasar be 29 billion light-years away from Earth if Big Bang happened only 13.8 billion years ago? [duplicate]

I was reading through the Wikipedia article on Quasars and came across the fact that the most distant Quasar is 29 Billion Light years. This is what the article exactly says The highest redshift ...
Nesta's user avatar
  • 161
14 votes
3 answers
5k views

What has been proved about the big bang, and what has not?

Ok so the universe is in constant expansion, that has been proven, right? And that means that it was smaller in the past.. But what's the smallest size we can be sure the universe has ever had? I ...
HappyDeveloper's user avatar
4 votes
5 answers
828 views

Cosmology - an expansion of all length scales

From the link Is non-mainstream physics appropriate for this site? "a question that proposes a new concept or paradigm, but asks for evaluation of that concept within the framework of current (...
John Hunter's user avatar
  • 13.7k
87 votes
7 answers
14k views

Why isn't an infinite, flat, nonexpanding universe filled with a uniform matter distribution a solution to Einstein's equation?

In Newtonian gravity, an infinite volume filled with a uniform distribution of mass would be in perfect equilibrium. At every point, the gravitational forces contributed by masses in one direction ...
D. Halsey's user avatar
  • 2,170
14 votes
3 answers
5k views

What does it mean that the universe is "infinite"?

This question is about cosmology and general relativity. I understand the difference between the universe and the observable universe. What I am not really clear about is what is meant when I read ...
Sklivvz's user avatar
  • 13.5k
10 votes
4 answers
2k views

At what speed does our universe expand?

Conceivably it expands with the speed of light. I do not know, but curious, if there is an answer. At what velocity, does our universe expand?
Stephan Schielke's user avatar

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