Does space continue

Does it possibly have an ending part? What caused space to be in the first place? Was it there before matter came into the picture?

 

I couldnt imagine space being infinite it doesnt make since

 

1. No, areas maybe different but I don't think there is any physical way to have an end.
2. Changes over time but always existed in some form so "creation" is an on going and everlasting process not a begining/end scenerio.
3. Matter/energy can change, areas maybe have higher or lower ratios of each and is also in flux, as to that ratio.

 

We will never know how far space extends until we reach, see, or conceptualize the end of space. I have a feeling there are more universes other than our own. Do you think black holes could be portals to other universes? I do. Maybe we will develope some kind of device someday that is like a telescope or a spectrascope that will let us see the edges of space if there is an edge. If we could fold space we could travel to other parts of the univese super fast. Where is the next Einstein hiding?

 

Space is expanding so who knows if it has an end or will ever have an end.

We know there was a big bang, the background radiation proves that, a spacecraft called COBE found it.

 

Einstein huh? Well you need only ask.

 

If space ends, what does it end at.
Like a wall or something?:hysterica

 

Maybe there is a big wall like the cell wall of a female human egg, and the universe is a baby being born.

 

I've always wondered the same thing. I asked my friend the question, and he said that it's called 'deep space'. I don't know, it seems like it never ends because we keep finding planets deeper and deeper. I'm not an expert by any means, I just find the same question interesting!

 

The planets that we are find ing are very far away from our solar system but in the grand scheme of the universe they are close by.

 

I mean no disrespect, but. 1000 years ago, man could imagine visiting the moon. Let alone living on an artificial man-mad satellite. The ISP.
Try to imagine what we will KNOW 1000 years from now!

As for the original question, it all depends on the individual person. Nobody can say for sure.

 

Space is simply a mirror of itself. It is like a round ball similar to the earth. Even gravity has a reflective surface. It is basically ten thousand lightyears either direction but then gravity steers you back to where you started. There is no end because it is all reflection. YOu would just go round in circles if you lived for ten thousand years.

 

Where did you come up with that evidence? How can something be a mirror of it'self? Also how can gravity have a reflective surface? I thouht gravity was just a warp in space/time.

 

Space continues as it is expanding. Traveling at the rate of expansion is not yet possible so you can't prove whether or not there is an "end".

When the expansion is complete, the center of gravity will slowly pull everything back to it, and traveling against the pull to see the end is not yet possible either.

The strongest telescopes still are only capable of seeing events that happened multi-millenia ago.

The biggest question is, where is the center? And what started it all.

 

Speculation of coarse but the expanding then falling back senario of our current universe could be how THIS universe began....


I love astronomy!

 

Heres one way to look at it: the universe has been expanding at or greater than the speed of light. For the past fifteen billion years. So, you will never be able to reach its edge, sans a wormhole.

As for its end, I suggest you read into something called the "big rip". No, it is not flatulence, but rather a theory for what will happen in trillions upon trillions of years, where matter and energy is so spread out that basically the fabric of spacetime tears apart.

Will the "big rip" happen? It depends on a number, which describes the curvature of spacetime. If spacetime is spherical, space will expand for a while longer then collapse back into itself. This scenario is referred to as the "big crunch". Notice how physicists dont want to have any small scenario, everything has to be "big". If spacetime is flat, space will continue to expand at its current rate. If spacetime is hyperbolic, space will continue to expand at an ever accellerating rate.

As for "before the beginning", I suggest you read Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time". In one of the later chapters, if I remember correctly, he discusses what is called the "boundary problem", and how space, time, and energy could have well existed before the big bang, but in a, well, lets just say in a complex state.

Unfortunately, our two hailed theories of physics, quantum mechanics and general relativity, let us down as to how far we can see back towards the big bang, solely because neither theory deals well with infinite densities. However, for an interesting look at the first moments after the big bang, I suggest you read Steven Weinberg's "First Three Minutes".

If you have any more questions, let me know...

 

Oh and @logicalway: there is no center, that's the short end of relative space. A lot of intersting work on disproving relative space was done by Ernst Mach, and you can find a good summary of it in Brian Greene's "Fabric of the Cosmos".

 

i think the answer to those questions are to complex for a brain to handle, what would you do with that info anyway? its a good question, i've been curios about it since i can remember, but some questions are better left unanswered. besides how can we answer that when we dont even know how to fix the ozone layer yet.

 

What causes space to be, is our awareness of it ... same with time ... well i thought without time, there's no casual connection of matter and space.

So maybe space ends right here, but then like a little bump on the road of time this is right where another space begins ... just as limited, or unlimited as our own awareness of it.

With that said, you all have an infinitely good day

 

Chlorofluorocarbons were banned in the 70's, and the ozone is returning back to normal-ish. Our big atmospheric problem right now is... drumroll... carbon dioxide.