| Document Hints of structure beyond the visible universe
Hints of structure beyond the visible universe - space - 10 June 2008 - New Scientist Space Quote:
Colossal structures larger than the visible universe – forged during the period of cosmic inflation nearly 14 billion years ago – may be responsible for a strange pattern seen in the big bang's afterglow, says a team of cosmologists. If confirmed, the structures could provide precious information about the universe's earliest moments.
In the first instant after its birth, the universe is thought to have experienced a rapid growth spurt called inflation. During this period, space itself expanded faster than the speed of light.
Inflation solves some cosmological puzzles, such as why relic radiation from the big bang, released when the universe was less than 400,000 years old, is relatively uniform.
Called the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the radiation can be observed in all directions in the sky. It has a slightly mottled appearance due to small differences in temperature from place to place in the early universe. The temperature differences are thought to be caused by variations in the density of matter, with denser regions being warmer than emptier regions.
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The structures stretch beyond the edge of the observable universe, which is essentially confined to a region with a radius of 14 billion light years, since only light from within that distance has had time to reach us since the big bang. The entire "global" universe is about 10100 times as large as the universe we can see. | Geez, I was always puzzled by the fact that our Universe was expanding. "Expanding into what?" was always my favorite cosmological question...
Nice to know that there's plenty of space left to expand into, but honestly scales such as twice the size of the universe are well over my head, let alone 10,100x.
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Last edited by Lachean : 06-10-08 at 11:32 AM.
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