How big is the universe around us is a question that has been bothering many intelligent people over the years. Some folks are pretty sure that the answer is, “umbo.” Others would say, “Wow, that’s huge!” And still others would have you believe that, “It’s pretty tiny,” or, “ombo, that doesn’t even make sense.” These answers, while not exactly correct, at least bring us closer to the question, “How big is the universe?”
So how big is the universe? Before we get into that, let’s make sure we fully understand what we mean when we talk about the universe. In order to do that, we first must describe the universe in simple terms. The best way to explain it is to imagine that there is a bubble in the universe, which has inflated to an unusually large volume. Now this large volume is in the shape of a football, and if you were standing on that football, you would feel its constancy.
If you could look carefully, you would also see that there are many small bubbles along with the football in the shape of smaller footballs all around us. The football in the middle is much bigger than the other bubbles. Those with a clear eye could see that the universe is spherical, and not flat like our flat planetarium.
So how big is the universe around us? This depends on how you look at things, and it is also dependent on how you wish to look at it. The math will show that the universe is not as far away as many of us think, and it certainly is not as small as some of the young-earth theorists maintain. For example, they believe that the earth is only a few million years old, and that the universe was not created in a flash. Rather, they believe that it happened over eons, much as our planet Earth was created from a series of smaller bangs.
The truth about the size of the universe is a little more complicated than that. First of all, the big bang theory is not accepted by many of the professional astronomers of the world today, for a number of reasons. For one thing, the calculations are complicated, and it doesn’t fit with current theories and models. Also, some of the evidence points very strongly to the idea that the universe began to expand at a much faster rate than it is today, leading to the big bang theory.
How big is the universe? It really depends on what you wish to measure. If you want to measure the diameter or the distance between the stars in the night sky, you need to use very precise instruments, like satellites. The measurement of the distance is actually not that difficult, because the speed at which the expansion of the universe was occurring would have taken its toll in the expansion process, causing the stars to gradually expand. If you wish to measure the area of the universe, or how big it is, you would use smaller, less accurate instruments, like the Very Large Telescope.
When we ask how big is the universe around us, the question is also important to our understanding of that universe. Many scientists believe that the universe is a completely orderly place, just as we know it to be. The large-scale structure of the universe seems to suggest that it is far more sophisticated than we can imagine. It also provides some very interesting answers to questions like: do black holes exist, and can aliens visit us?
While there are many opinions on this question, the best way to find out is to ask an expert in the field. Fortunately, today there are a lot of experts who know how big the big bang is and they have prepared systematic mathematical equations on which to base our question about the nature of the universe. It is their job to provide us with the right kind of answer. It is up to you to choose the one that will best fit your needs.