Where does space end?!

[rory]

Our minds find such things hard to grasp because we are bound by our senses. We can only contemplate what we see, hear, smell, touch and taste. Our minds perceive and calculate based on what we interact with. Some cleaver chappies can go beyond this to a degree with mathematical equations but this is still relies on a form of interaction and is often beyond being put in to practice and will only ever be considered theories. Familiarity can also add to confusion. We often say if it has a beginning must have a boundary or end....but beyond this there must also be another beginning ? As pointed out in my post earlier the only exception to the rule is death. Religions have their beliefs, biologists have theirs but non the less no-one can say they have come back from the dead. Even though we understand the factors of death on earth we have no way of grasping the grander scale of things to how something as vast as a universe could ever die. Surly this must last forever ?? but I say how can it ? We cannot perceive death as to do this we would have to be dead and if you are dead you'd have no form of perception anyway. None the less no-one can say that death isn't fact. It is simply impossible for anything tangible to last forever. We see this fact all the time all around us. Every thing is in a constant slow state of decay. How can the universe be an exception to this rule? Argue that there has to be a boundary to the universe but explain what would be the other side of that boundary? you could only say infinity. I say what is infinite ? We find it so hard to understand but the answers are right in front of us. Answers often so obvious we over look them or ignore them through fear. Someone mentioned the universe is expanding but again in to what? Who knows??? maybe this is how the universe dies? like a giant balloon expanding and POP! it is consumed by that what is around it. We can all hazard a guess at what's out there but acceptance that it is beyond our capabilities to ever know for sure is often the best answer to the question. I may come across as all doom and gloom but it is human nature to have aversion to death and see talking about it as depressing. It would be wrong for our aversion to cause ignorance to how death (infinity) plays it's part.

nice post that. im still thinking along the lines of were inside other living beings:D

never the less an exellent post to ponder on

[Trull]

To all the "our galaxy is an atom in ever decreasing circles" sorry but no... the numbers don't pan out. The scales are too different, take for instance the fact that we know about 1x10 exp22 (that's 1 with 22 zeros) stars... in my fingertip there are approx 1x10 exp 30 atoms. So with that jump in density a star cannot be an atom on a larger scale. Still its a cool thought... and stranger stuff happens naturally. I still struggle with the quantum tenent of there being no such thing as distance.

[StarryEyes]

Space doesn't seem to have a boundary and for me that makes it ungraspable to the human mind. Looking at it this way saves on headaches!

That's what gives me a headache!

[StarryEyes]

Thanks again to everyone who has discussed this topic, I never thought it would provoke such a response.

[Byz1453]

Guys,

I thoroughly recommend A Question and Answer Guide to Astronomy by Pierre-Yves Bely, Carol Christian and Jean-Rene Roy, if you haven't already got it...

Its a great little book summarising the latest astronomical knowledge in laymans terms without skimping on the science.

Covers a huge range of topics, the kind of book you can dip into whenever you need and answer or the kind of book that will keep you engrossed for hours on a cloudy night.

A Question and Answer Guide to Astronomy: Amazon.co.uk: Pierre-Yves Bely, Carol Christian, Jean-René Roy: Books

Covers most of the points on this thread.

Hope this helps

[Axe]

i doubt we will ever be able to answer this...its similar to the ''whats the biggest number in the world'' .....there isnt one as it will always have a +1 on it (they gave it a name 'Graham's number' but it has no end as u can just add 1 on it all the time)....so i would imagine similarly the universe is forever growing or moving away at speeds beyond lightspeed, so no matter how close we got to it...it will always grow and grow and grow.

or could we be just a fraction in an atom on a universal scale?...whats to say there isnt billions more universe's outside our own filling out or even crossing into our own universe.

wait....my brains melted..bedtime! lol

[msinclairinork]

Guys,

I thoroughly recommend A Question and Answer Guide to Astronomy by Pierre-Yves Bely, Carol Christian and Jean-Rene Roy, if you haven't already got it...

Its a great little book summarising the latest astronomical knowledge in laymans terms without skimping on the science.

Covers a huge range of topics, the kind of book you can dip into whenever you need and answer or the kind of book that will keep you engrossed for hours on a cloudy night.

A Question and Answer Guide to Astronomy: Amazon.co.uk: Pierre-Yves Bely, Carol Christian, Jean-René Roy: Books

Covers most of the points on this thread.

Hope this helps

Thanks for that, I have just ordered it

Michael

[Venus_is_my_friend]

5 miles north of Scunthorpe