Sorry for the delay, I think I've been in a Spacetime warp right here on Earth
;-)
OK, here goes...
The light we see from the edge of our universe was emitted almost 14 billion years ago. I don't think the universe had a radius of almost 14 billion light years back when the light was emitted.
Spacetime been expanding for all that time, so that the distance to the farthest galaxies that emitted the light was much smaller when the light was emitted.
What was the approx. distance to the farthest galaxies when they emitted their light?
Do you know if there is a simple equation that clarifies the relationship between the age of the light and the distance it traveled in an expanding universe, maybe something like this?
A c = D = D0 S(t)
A = Age of the light
c = speed of light
D = Distance light traveled
D0 = Distance of light source at time of emission
S(t) = Spacetime expansion factor as a function of time
The light we see from the edge of our universe was emitted almost 14 billion years ago. I don't think the universe had a radius of almost 14 billion light years back when the light was emitted.
This is why we usually talk about the observable universe. This one has a radius of 14 billions light years. We however do not know what lies beyond it.
Do you know if there is a simple equation that clarifies the relationship between the age of the light and the distance it traveled in an expanding universe, maybe something like this?
You may want to read about 'comoving distances' Does it help?
Sorry for the delay, I think I've been in a Spacetime warp right here on Earth
;-)
OK, here goes...
The light we see from the edge of our universe was emitted almost 14 billion years ago. I don't think the universe had a radius of almost 14 billion light years back when the light was emitted.
Spacetime been expanding for all that time, so that the distance to the farthest galaxies that emitted the light was much smaller when the light was emitted.
What was the approx. distance to the farthest galaxies when they emitted their light?
Do you know if there is a simple equation that clarifies the relationship between the age of the light and the distance it traveled in an expanding universe, maybe something like this?
A c = D = D0 S(t)
A = Age of the light
c = speed of light
D = Distance light traveled
D0 = Distance of light source at time of emission
S(t) = Spacetime expansion factor as a function of time
This is why we usually talk about the observable universe. This one has a radius of 14 billions light years. We however do not know what lies beyond it.
You may want to read about 'comoving distances' Does it help?
Thanks. Looking on wikipedia, comoving distances explains it, not as simple as I was guessing though.
With the universe, nothing is never really simple :p