Is The Universe Destined To Be A Cold, Lonely Place?
They say, perspective is everything. Here on Earth, our perspective is quite narrow, as far as distances are concerned. One of the reasons for that is, we don’t get to deal in large distances in our day to day life.
From hundreds of kilometres to probably thousands of kilometres (if travelling outside country), our range of distances that we traverse is quite low. But once you shift your perspective to what lies outside our planet, you will realise the stark contrast.
That’s why many people are not able to fathom the distances involved in space and have to be given specific perspectives to realise the same. For example, did you know that you could fit all the planets in the solar system between the Earth and the moon? That’s how far moon actually is.
Distances in space between objects are so huge, that we use a completely different way of measuring them. We use what is called a light year, which is the distance travelled by light in a year. And if the distances weren’t already large, they are getting ever so larger.
An Expanding Universe
You might already know that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate and therefore the galaxies are getting further and further away from each other. The universe is about 13.7 billion years old and already the observable universe is about 93 billion light years in diameter.
And that is just the universe that we can observe i.e. light has had time to reach us from those parts of the universe. Who knows how much larger the universe is beyond that point.
You might think that if the universe is just 13.7 billion years old how could the observable universe is 93 billion light years wide if nothing can travel faster than light. Short answer: The very fabric of spacetime seems to be stretching faster than light.
That means all the galaxies that are travelling away from us faster and faster every moment are not actually travelling faster than light but it’s just that the space between them and us is expanding at faster than light speeds and it is exactly this phenomenon that will one day make the universe a very lonely place.
A Lonely Universe
So, there are possibly trillions of galaxies in the universe with huge distances involved between them already. If interstellar space travel seems like such a sci-fi thing to do, you could only imagine what intergalactic travel would be like!
Add to the fact that those distances are increasing and that too at unimaginable speeds and even that is increasing!! We are literally being driven apart from the rest of the cosmos.
Well, not just us, every thing in the universe seems to be getting driven apart from the rest as space expands between them, the main culprit of which is suspected to be the mysterious dark energy, which is still not really understood.
In a far future, perhaps billions of years from now, every galaxy will be so far away from the next, that to an observer, it would seem like there’s is the only galaxy in the whole universe, floating around in a vast nothingness.
Such a lonely place it would be. In a way, we are lucky to be alive right now where we can observe so much of the universe and have been able to look back in time to the first moments of the big bang.
The universe has so much beauty to offer in terms of stars and galaxies which invite so many questions about existence and gives purpose to an intelligent species to pursue these questions and expand out into space as space faring civilisations and look for other potential intelligent beings.
Imagine a universe where your’s is the only galaxy there is and you just can’t figure out the true nature of the universe. The most you would be able to do is travel within your own galaxy which seems quite an impossible feat right now but for a species that would have been around for quite a while, it would be as boring as just swiping apps to the left and right on your smartphone!
There are theories that state that the universe will come at a point where it will stop expanding and start contracting in which case things might get less bleak, but who’s to say this will happen and the time that it would take, would render anything irrelevant.
We know so little about our universe, I would even say do not know anything.
Yep, I think I heard it somewhere that we only know about 4% of the universe.
I think 4% is too much for us :)))
The ocean buttom has not completely explored :)
By 4% they mean the laws of physics that explain the 4% of the universe.
I think that in the future a lot will be explained in another way because the current laws of physics not enough completely
Thank you, gentlebot!
I would like to know how this 4% is calculated..😊
Well, it is speculated that all the matter that we observe in the universe, i.e. stars, planets, asteroids, everything that we can see, makes up for only 4% of the universe. The rest 96% is made up of dark energy and dark matter that we don't understand anything about right now.
Yep. It's a big universe! There is a whole lot that we don't know yet.
This is the current scientific perspective about the Galaxy. I am wondering if this perspective going to change.
It isn't that long ago that people think that the earth was flat. Perhaps understanding about the darkmatter will change this perspective of the Galaxy. Anyway nice post! Upvoted!
Maybe. More data and evidence can sure change things. But this is how it looks with the current understanding.
Some people still think the Earth is flat. Scientific theories are always being updated, so I think that as our understanding of the universe improves, so will all the theories.
It's mind boggling to think about the Universe. I comfort myself by thinking that all good things must come to an end. The whole universe is doomed to be ripped apart and cool down. Before that happens in trillions of years to come, the Earth will be already gone. As a human race, we should rejoice of what we have right now, to be able to observe the Universe an appreciate how lucky we are to exist and acknowledge our place within it.
Yeah, it's such a mind boggling to think about. yes, we will be long gone, but to think of what could happen given the information we have is a pleasure on its own. :)
Universe is in a constant state of change. We will never truly know. @originalworks
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Thanks!
i was just rewatching the fabric of the cosmos series with brian greene
Oh, I haven't watched that one. Have you watched COSMOS by Neil deGrasse Tyson?
Wonder what the civilazations that survive to the end of the universe might have to say about it's death. Will they see it as irreversable? I doubt it. Think of the combined knowledge and various ways of thinking that these being would have. By comparison we are insects, and in our particle colliders we are able to create things that haven't existed since the big bang. Who knows what is possible?
It will be literally trillions of years before the end, as predicted by current models. I think by that time, many civilisations will have risen and fallen. But yes, the ones that make it to the end will witness the death of the universe or at least the process of it.
Yes the universe appears cold and lonely. I believe that is the case from our limited understanding. It may be that the cold perception is not cold but warm. we are humans and think like humans so we see as humans. If the vast universe is part of the vast heavens, then the universe is many dimensions past human understanding. For those who choose to believe in heaven or hell, it could be multi-layered or multi-dimensional. This is not a new concept of layers. Great writers have spoken of it. The layer could be degrees of comprehension or insulation protecting the true spiritual. For now we see though the glass darkly. Thanks for the intellectual intercourse my friend. Enjoyed the read.
The universe sure can be multi-dimensional. In fact several theories explain the extra dimensions that can exist and the maths behind it even proves it.
post about the perfect universe of you and I love this post ... I like you and success is always for you @sauravrungta
Thanks! :)
You are right. As humans we keep improving every single day, we continuously get smarter. But there is a question that bugged me while reading your post, can these improvements caught up to the piling questions generated by the answers themselves? As you have said, the fabric of space and time stretches faster than speed of light. In a different way but of the same context, can humanity answer all these questions before we cease to exist? My mind is spinning. Anyway thank you very much for a very good read. God bless :)
Maybe one day we will. We have come a long way in our understanding of the cosmos in just a few decades. I think a few more centuries and we will know a great deal.