• Question: What are the boundaries of the Universe ?

    Asked by courteney to Ed, Katie, Sam, Steve, Vera on 17 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Ed Morrison

      Ed Morrison answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I don’t think scientists know the answer to this one. I think according to some theories the universe doesn’t even have boundaries, but this is outside my knowledge.

    • Photo: Vera Weisbecker

      Vera Weisbecker answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I am also extremely vague on this but seem to remember that the universe is continuously expanding since the big bang – that would suggest that there are boundaries because there has to be something the universe expands into, right?

    • Photo: Katie Marriott

      Katie Marriott answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I think it is nothing. It’s quite hard to get your head round, the idea of nothing!

    • Photo: Sam Tazzyman

      Sam Tazzyman answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I am not sure whether the universe has boundaries or not. In my mathematics degree, though, I learnt that something can not have boundaries but still not be infinite. Think of the surface of the Earth – there’s no “edge”, but it isn’t infinite. But I have literally no idea if this could apply to the universe.

    • Photo: Steven Daly

      Steven Daly answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      As far as we know, the universe doesn’t have a boundary, or if it does then it is moving so fast that not even light can catch up with it.

      The universe is a bizarre place though, there is so much about it that we do not yet understand. We do not even know what most of it is made of yet!

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