What's outside space ....
- Thread starter JamesAC
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Globalti
Legendary Member
He needs to read Consider Phlebus by Ian M Banks. That's a pretty good science fiction story about what's beyond our insignificant little solar system in our small galaxy, one of millions of other galaxies floating around in space. When you read that you get an idea of the enormity of space and the absolute certainty that we are not the only living beings.
He might be a bit young at five though.
He might be a bit young at five though.
numbnuts
Squire
- Location
- Gone over the hill and far away
Star Trek 
Arch
Married to Night Train
- Location
- Salford, UK
I suggest you read him that passage from The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the bit that goes something like "Space is big. Really Big. Mind Bogglingly big, I mean you might think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's peanuts compared with space...."
Alternatively, or as well, show him this to help understand scale:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110201.html
Doesn't quite answer his question, but might help understand the concept of 'endless'
Alternatively, or as well, show him this to help understand scale:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110201.html
Doesn't quite answer his question, but might help understand the concept of 'endless'
Night Train
Maker of Things
- Location
- Greater Manchester
You could get into theology if you want and tell him that there is some sort of diety out there.
Alternatively show him a ball and ask him where the edge of the surface of the ball is, there isn't one, and then use that explain that space is the same, boundless.
Or find Stephen Hawkin's email and get your grandson to email him to ask.
Alternatively show him a ball and ask him where the edge of the surface of the ball is, there isn't one, and then use that explain that space is the same, boundless.
Or find Stephen Hawkin's email and get your grandson to email him to ask.
Smokin Joe
Squire
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
Give him a clip round the ear and tell him to stop annoying you.
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
Thanks for that Smokin Joe, this thread was way too far out for me on a Sunday morning.
Globalti
Legendary Member
Ha ha, that reminds me of the time when I was a child, driving in my Dad's car. I remember asking my Dad why the trees further away from the car seemed to be moving more slowly than the ones near the car then listening to him trying to explain, realising with a feeling of triumph that my Dad didn't know the answer to everything. Nasty little beggar, I was.
steve52
I'm back! Yippeee
- Location
- bottesford scunthorpe
easy , more space and its so big we havent found the end, true and simple
much like me
much like me
He's 5.
Just show him this Youtube clip and he'll completely forget about his hard question:
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMYN4djSq7o
Just show him this Youtube clip and he'll completely forget about his hard question:
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMYN4djSq7o
wobbler
Active Member
- Location
- Wolverhampton
Ah Ha. Infinity! Is there no end to it?
Or, you could confuse him even more by showing him the the two mirrors reflecting each other's reflection in the other mirror's reflection trick. That should tip him over the edge. Which of course will lead him to ask and keep asking. "But how many are there dad?"
Or, you could confuse him even more by showing him the the two mirrors reflecting each other's reflection in the other mirror's reflection trick. That should tip him over the edge. Which of course will lead him to ask and keep asking. "But how many are there dad?"
Arch
Married to Night Train
- Location
- Salford, UK
Of course, the honest answer is probably along the lines of:
"Nobody knows for sure. Who knows, maybe, if you're interested, when you're grown up, it'll be you that finds out the answer!"
(Cue discussion of all the things people didn't know in the past, and how it sometimes just takes one person to see the answer, and sometimes it has to be built up by lots of people working together.)
"Nobody knows for sure. Who knows, maybe, if you're interested, when you're grown up, it'll be you that finds out the answer!"
(Cue discussion of all the things people didn't know in the past, and how it sometimes just takes one person to see the answer, and sometimes it has to be built up by lots of people working together.)
cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTmJgUJcDyc&feature=player_embedded[/media]
The current, observable universe has been determined to have a width of 156 billion light years, with an error of less than 1%, by the latest deep-space telescope WMAP. At first, it might seem impossible that scientists are so sure of this astronomical measurement, but this figure has been narrowed by years of research and determined by several paths of inquiry. Also, the size of the universe is intimately dependent on its shape, age, acceleration, and total mass, so we are very confident in this figure.
In 2003, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe sent back enough data for scientists to publish extremely dependable studies that established two previously unknown facts about the universe. They determined our universe is flat, which means standard Euclidean geometry is valid on the largest scale. This can be understood by saying a straight line more or less stays a straight line for as long as it extends. They also established that the universe is accelerating at an ever-increasing rate, which means that all mass is flying away from each other at faster and faster speeds. The WMAP data measured the temperature, called the cosmic microwave background radiation, of our observable universe with an unprecedented accuracy, to within a 5% error. From these facts, we can deduce figures such as the radius of the universe.
Remember that the size of the universe is not a constant value, nor is it the size of an object as we traditionally understand it. The size of the universe is actually the size of space itself, and as space expands, so does the space between planets, stars, and galaxies. At the beginning of the universe, the Big Bang created space and time as we know them. From that moment, space has been expanding, so we find its size by measuring how far light could have traveled since the Big Bang, along with how much space itself stretched.
We can only possibly look or communicate up to the edge, or "horizon," of where light has traveled since the beginning of the universe. The size of the universe means the space in which we can interact with anything. We will never ever know what is "beyond" this boundary, because there is no way to know anything about it, so it's illogical to consider the realm "outside" of our universe, or to wonder what we are expanding "into."
An independent measure of the size of our universe can be given by studying the oldest stars. The oldest stars we have found are probably somewhere between 11 and 14 billion light years old. If we had stars older than the largest distance light could have traveled, then we'd know there was something wrong with our calculations; there would not be enough time for them to evolve. However, these values are consistent with everything else we know about the universe.
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTmJgUJcDyc&feature=player_embedded[/media]
The current, observable universe has been determined to have a width of 156 billion light years, with an error of less than 1%, by the latest deep-space telescope WMAP. At first, it might seem impossible that scientists are so sure of this astronomical measurement, but this figure has been narrowed by years of research and determined by several paths of inquiry. Also, the size of the universe is intimately dependent on its shape, age, acceleration, and total mass, so we are very confident in this figure.
In 2003, the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe sent back enough data for scientists to publish extremely dependable studies that established two previously unknown facts about the universe. They determined our universe is flat, which means standard Euclidean geometry is valid on the largest scale. This can be understood by saying a straight line more or less stays a straight line for as long as it extends. They also established that the universe is accelerating at an ever-increasing rate, which means that all mass is flying away from each other at faster and faster speeds. The WMAP data measured the temperature, called the cosmic microwave background radiation, of our observable universe with an unprecedented accuracy, to within a 5% error. From these facts, we can deduce figures such as the radius of the universe.
Remember that the size of the universe is not a constant value, nor is it the size of an object as we traditionally understand it. The size of the universe is actually the size of space itself, and as space expands, so does the space between planets, stars, and galaxies. At the beginning of the universe, the Big Bang created space and time as we know them. From that moment, space has been expanding, so we find its size by measuring how far light could have traveled since the Big Bang, along with how much space itself stretched.
We can only possibly look or communicate up to the edge, or "horizon," of where light has traveled since the beginning of the universe. The size of the universe means the space in which we can interact with anything. We will never ever know what is "beyond" this boundary, because there is no way to know anything about it, so it's illogical to consider the realm "outside" of our universe, or to wonder what we are expanding "into."
An independent measure of the size of our universe can be given by studying the oldest stars. The oldest stars we have found are probably somewhere between 11 and 14 billion light years old. If we had stars older than the largest distance light could have traveled, then we'd know there was something wrong with our calculations; there would not be enough time for them to evolve. However, these values are consistent with everything else we know about the universe.
