Universe Measured: We're 156 Billion Light-years Wide

[Seraphim]

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mystery_monday_040524.html

My head would explode if I was to calculate this.

[Brozozo]

156 billion light years wide? So f*cking what?

[M_S]

is it like 156 000 000 000 years exactly or 156 947 483 954. 435 563 453?

[Operation Ivy]

so whats beyond the universe then?

(i hate that question makes me think a lot) :oops:

[EvanL]

now subtract jack mehoffs ego. and the universe really isnt that small anymore.
p-)

[Brozozo]

is it like 156 000 000 000 years exactly or 156 947 483 954. 435 563 453?

Obviously it's rounded, how the gonna measure the exact diameter of the universe?

[M_S]

you mean big?

[Seraphim]

156 billion light years wide? So f*cking what? Maybe you should think about other things than what to jack off tonight.

[M_S]

is it like 156 000 000 000 years exactly or 156 947 483 954. 435 563 453?

Obviously it's rounded, how the gonna measure the exact diameter of the universe?

with my ***** ofcourse!

[Seraphim]

is it like 156 000 000 000 years exactly or 156 947 483 954. 435 563 453?

The article says its at least 156 billion light years wide.

[Haiw]

so whats beyond the universe then?

(i hate that question makes me think a lot) :oops:
I don't know what's beyond it, but the 'crust' is made of chocolate.

My mother told me that so it must be true. :D

[Haiw]

so whats beyond the universe then?

(i hate that question makes me think a lot) :oops:
I don't know what's beyond it, but the 'crust' is made of chocolate.

My mother told me that so it must be true. :D

[Sir Zach of R.]

To measure the diameter you would have to multiply by pi, then divide by 2 or something like that. Multiply times two by the raadi and then by pi. Crap, why the hell did you even ask! :lol:

[Seraphim]

To measure the diameter you would have to multiply by pi, then divide by 2 or something like that. Multiply times two by the raadi and then by pi. Crap, why the hell did you even ask! :lol:

Thats why I was never good at math, I always did "divide by 2 or something like that".

p-)

[Wilco]

Woopy, just another reason to give some party guys a chance to drink.

[Vance]

W
G
A
S

[aixina]

only? i thought it was about 189 or maybe 188.2 billion light years

[Trigger]

That's a big Twinkie.

[Midtown]

MEXICANS AHOY!

[2Sheds_Jackson]

I thought the cooler part of the article was that they've discounted the "hall of mirrors" possibility. That's where-
-since the light from space takes billions of years to reach us
-what we're seeing is billions of years old
-so shouldn't we be able to look somewhere and see Earth, billions of years ago? Or maybe at several locations & ages?

No.

Bummer. But then, that's relativity for you.

But then you have to ask yourself - ok so the universe (what we can detect of it) is 156billion-ish light years wide, and it's expanding at an increasing rate. They say it's due to dark energy (a term for energy we cannot observe, thought to originate from dark matter which, we uh, also cannot observe).

And the "big bang" didn't just create matter like stars/dust etc. - it created existence and time itself. The universe didn't just come exploding into a huge empty black room. The big empty room didn't exist before the big bang. Neither did time.

So if the universe is expanding, what's it expanding into, since there is no existence or time outside of it?

Please elaborate, and have a report explaining everything on my desk in the morning.

[Tane Angle]

The most mind-blowing thing I've ever heard perhaps is "what would the universe look like to the proverbial outside observer." The answer is apparently that it wouldn't. Since the edge of the universe is how far light has traveled since the Big Bang, someone outside the universe would not be able to see it, because the light had not reached them yet. For the light to have reached someone, they would have to be at the border of the universe. Wow. :D

[Haiw]

The most mind-blowing thing I've ever heard perhaps is "what would the universe look like to the proverbial outside observer." The answer is apparently that it wouldn't. Since the edge of the universe is how far light has traveled since the Big Bang, someone outside the universe would not be able to see it, because the light had not reached them yet. For the light to have reached someone, they would have to be at the border of the universe. Wow. :D
But...what if he had a flashlight? :D

[mocking_loudly_died]

When are the Alien assholes coming to invade?

[Ratamacue]

So wait, if the universe started 13.7 billion years ago from a single infinitely point of all existing matter, and has since expanded to 156 billion light years, wouldn't that mean that faster-than-light travel is possible? ;)

[Tane Angle]

Yeah I don't really know how that works. I think it's got something to do with dark energy/dark matter.

[2Sheds_Jackson]

I kinda got hung up on that too, but they 'splained it this way;


"the starting point of a photon reaching us today after travelling for 13.7 billion years is now 78 billion light-years away," Cornish said. That would be the radius of the universe, and twice that -- 156 billion light-years -- is the diameter

In other words, I think it means - the light we now see from the universe's outer edge, was created 13.7 billion light years away. But that also means it was made 13.7 billion years ago. In those 13.7b years, those stars have contued away from us, and are now 78 billion light years away. So light from where they are now will not reach us for another 78billion years.

I'll be eligible to retire by then.