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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
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
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
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
33 votes
9 answers
9k views

Is space really expanding?

In a book called "Einstein, Relativity and Absolute Simultaneity" there was this sentence by Smith: There is no observational evidence for a space expansion hypothesis. What is observed are ...
user avatar
31 votes
6 answers
6k views

If spacetime itself is expanding, how could we ever tell?

If space is the measured distance between 2 objects, then saying the space expanded is nonsensical unless we have a measuring stick outside of the space fabric to measure the expansion. 2 objects ...
Mike S's user avatar
  • 942
31 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why haven't we seen the big bang?

The Andromeda galaxy is 2,538,000 light years away, so if we view Andromeda from a telescope, we see Andromeda how it was 2,538,000 years ago. Now the diameter of the visible universe is 92 billion ...
Bhavesh's user avatar
  • 1,925
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
29 votes
2 answers
4k views

Why is the Cosmic Microwave Background evidence of a hotter, denser early universe?

In his book Gravitation and Cosmology, Steven Weinberg says that the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) makes it "difficult to doubt that the universe has evolved from a hotter, denser early stage&...
Ritesh Singh's user avatar
  • 1,421
28 votes
4 answers
6k views

How did the universe shift from "dark matter dominated" to "dark energy dominated"?

In order to get dark energy to dominate, wouldn't you first need another form of energy to push the expansion until dark energy could dominate? Otherwise I don't understand how the universe could ...
user43783's user avatar
  • 1,137
27 votes
2 answers
15k views

What is the theoretical limit for farthest we can see back in time and distance?

13.2 billion years ago the universe was rather small, having started only half a billion years ago. Today, with the help of Hubble Space Telescope, we are able to capture the light of galaxies emitted ...
Ankur's user avatar
  • 371
26 votes
9 answers
7k views

How can the universe expand if there is gravitation?

We live in an expanding universe - so I'm told. But how can that be possible? Everything imaginable is attracted by a bigger thing. So, why can't gravitation stop the expansion of the universe? I know ...
blackcornail'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
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

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