How big is the Universe?

[Cordoba]

According to the Muslim belief, the human soul stays alive and returns to its Creator after the body dies

One day we shall all return to our Creator, and only then will we really see and understand how vast is this immense universe!

Peace and all the best

 

[Ben Dhyan]

According to the Muslim belief, the human soul stays alive and returns to its Creator after the body dies

One day we shall all return to our Creator, and only then will we really see and understand how vast is this immense universe!

Peace and all the best

Yes, in general this is a universal theme, but to avoid the possibility of dualistic misunderstanding, some teachings talk of this process as 'merging' with the Oneness/Unity,,or 'being born of the spirit'.
Perhaps it would be more precise to describe this process as being a realization that the perception of being separated from Allah was all the while ignorance.
Also, again to avoid the confusing dualistic terminology, this process does not take place after the body dies, but in the 'now'. That the body will drop away when full enlightenment is attained is a natural simultaneous consequence because it (the body) has served its purpose.
For those who 'die' while still in their ignorance, that is another story.

 

[Cordoba]

Going back to science, here is an interesting question:

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]What is the Biggest Star in the Universe?[/FONT]

Before we jump straight to the answer, let's take a look at our own Sun for a sense of scale. Our familiar star is a mighty 1.4 million km across (870,000 miles). That's such a huge number that it's hard to get a sense of scale. The Sun accounts for 99.9% of all the matter in our Solar System. In fact, you could fit one million planet Earths inside the Sun.

Astronomers use the terms "solar radius" and "solar mass" to compare large and smaller stars, so we'll do the same. A solar radius is 690,000 km (432,000 miles) and a solar mass is 2 x 1030 kilograms (4.3 x 1030 pounds). That's 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg.

One huge, famous star in our galaxy is the monster Eta Carinae, located approximately 7,500 light years away, and weighing in at 100 solar masses.

It's 4 million times as bright as the Sun. Most stars blow with a solar wind, losing mass over time. But Eta Carinae is so large that it casts off 500 times the mass of the Earth every year. With so much mass lost, it's very difficult for astronomers to accurately measure where the star ends, and its stellar wind begins.

So the best answer astronomers have right now is that Eta Carinae's radius is 400 times the size of the Sun. And as star size estimates go, that's pretty accurate.
And one interesting side note: Eta Carinae should explode pretty soon as one of the most spectacular supernovae humans have ever seen

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/04/06/what-is-the-biggest-star-in-the-universe/

What a star!

 

[camanintx]

What a star!

Why didn't you cut and paste the next paragraph from this article?

But that's nothing. The largest known star is VY Canis Majoris; a red hypergiant star in the constellation Canis Major, located about 5,000 light-years from Earth. University of Minnesota professor Roberta Humphreys recently calculated its upper size at more than 2,100 times the size of the Sun. Placed in our Solar System, its surface would extend out past the orbit of Saturn. Light takes more than 8 hours to cross its circumference!

 

[Cordoba]

You're right Caman

And to continue:

Some astronomers disagree, and think that VY Canis Majoris might be smaller; merely 600 times the size of the Sun, extending past the orbit of Mars.

That's the biggest star that we know of, but the Milky way probably has dozens of stars that are even larger, obscured by gas and dust so we can't see them ...

But according to theorists, how big can stars get? ...

a cool supergiant would be 2,600 times the size of the Sun.

That, she believes, is the largest possible star

 

[Cordoba]

To answer the question of this thread, after having seen from science how immense this universe really is, this hadith gives us a clue to what is beyond our universe, and how small and insignificant it is compared to the seven heavens and what is beyond:

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said:

"the worldly heaven in comparison to the second heaven is like a ring in a desert,

and the second heaven to the third is like a ring in a desert,

and the third to the fourth is like a ring in a desert,

and the fourth to the fifth is like a ring in a desert,

and the fifth to the sixth is like a ring in a desert,

and the sixth to the seventh is like a ring in a desert,

and the seventh to the kursiy is like a ring in a desert, and the kursi to the Throne of Allah (SWT) is like a ring in a desert."

That's how "small" our "immense" universe is !

 

[Tau]

The universe is finite, but it does not have a particular volume because the universe is not static, it is inflating.

So your question cannot be answered properly, because by the time we have measured it it has grown since.
Although we can tell you how big it was yesterday and how big it will be tommorow!

There are at least 100 billion galaxies in the universe, vast is not adequate enough a word to describe the inconcievable immensity of the cosmos.

 

[Ben Dhyan]

The universe is finite, but it does not have a particular volume because the universe is not static, it is inflating.

Oh,...until now I understood that it was a matter of ongoing scientific conjecture as to the different theories pertaining to the universe!
That the 'finite' universe theory is in the dominant position in academic circles does mean that they get to have greater influence in the media, but this does not mean that it is fact! Alternative theories are challenging the contemporary orthodoxy.
Unless of course you are prepared to claim divine revelation?
IMHO infinity IS, because it couldn't be any other way,.but I do understand that human mortal curiosity must reduce infinity to a concept of finiteness so that the brain is able to deal with the local perceptions in time and space.

 

[DarkSun]

Data from the Wilkenson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) has determined, within the limits of instrument error, that the universe is flat.

I'll have to look into that. Thanks.

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Hubble Surprise: Heavyweight Baby Galaxies[/FONT]

Astronomers looking at galaxies in the universe’s distant past were surprised to find some compact, very young galaxies that have masses similar to a mature, grown-up galaxy. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers discovered nine small galaxies, each weighing in at 200 billion times the mass of the Sun. The galaxies, each only 5,000 light-years across, are a fraction of the size of today's adult galaxies but contain approximately the same number of stars. Each galaxy could fit inside the central hub of our Milky Way Galaxy




http://www.universetoday.com/2008/04/29/hubble-surprise-heavyweight-baby-galaxies/

 

[YmirGF]

To answer the question of this thread, after having seen from science how immense this universe really is, this hadith gives us a clue to what is beyond our universe, and how small and insignificant it is compared to the seven heavens and what is beyond:

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said:

"the worldly heaven in comparison to the second heaven is like a ring in a desert,

and the second heaven to the third is like a ring in a desert,

and the third to the fourth is like a ring in a desert,

and the fourth to the fifth is like a ring in a desert,

and the fifth to the sixth is like a ring in a desert,

and the sixth to the seventh is like a ring in a desert,

and the seventh to the kursiy is like a ring in a desert, and the kursi to the Throne of Allah (SWT) is like a ring in a desert."

That's how "small" our "immense" universe is !

I can attest to the relative accuracy of this, Cordoba. I often state that reality is inherently multidimensional, the thing is there is so much beyond even the seventh demarcation "line" that it dwarfs our shared reality to the point of virtual insiginificance. I rather suspect that Prophet Muhammed understood this, but didn't want his followers to feel too small. I could be being overly generous however.

 

[Cordoba]

The information Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, about the universe and what is beyond was revealed to him from God, The Creator of the universe

God is the All-Knowing

Our knowledge, like our size compared to the universe, it's a small drop in the ocean

 

[wednesday]

The universe can only expenad until all free energy has been absorbed due to the conservation of energy (energy lost by one object is the enrgy gained by another). Then we will have the heat death of the universe. So basically we're f***ed
You can argue religiously here but when you put your faith in the scientific proof, its easier to grasp the concept of the universe.

 

[logician]

The universe can only expenad until all free energy has been absorbed due to the conservation of energy (energy lost by one object is the enrgy gained by another). Then we will have the heat death of the universe. So basically we're f***ed
You can argue religiously here but when you put your faith in the scientific proof, its easier to grasp the concept of the universe.

I think there are many things that could do us in before the universe packs it in.

 

[Tau]

Oh,...until now I understood that it was a matter of ongoing scientific conjecture as to the different theories pertaining to the universe!
That the 'finite' universe theory is in the dominant position in academic circles does mean that they get to have greater influence in the media, but this does not mean that it is fact! Alternative theories are challenging the contemporary orthodoxy.
Unless of course you are prepared to claim divine revelation?
IMHO infinity IS, because it couldn't be any other way,.but I do understand that human mortal curiosity must reduce infinity to a concept of finiteness so that the brain is able to deal with the local perceptions in time and space.

Really?

Glad to update you.

Divine revelation is not scientific evidence lol..

Space may be infinite my friend, it may be absolute, containing an infinite number of universes, but so far we can see only one, and we can use our instruments to confirm my earlier statements, my mental limitations non withstanding....however one thing I forgot to mention is that space is non elucidean, what you see isnt necessarily what you get...

 

[3.14]

btw how do you measure the size of the universum do we even have a name to give to it cause billiones will still fall short by a long shot to the size of the universe

 

[crystalonyx]

Some of the universe is "beyond the cone of light" as they say, i.e. the light from that part of the universe has not reached us, i.e. cannot be observed.

 

[Ben Dhyan]

Some of the universe is "beyond the cone of light" as they say, i.e. the light from that part of the universe has not reached us, i.e. cannot be observed.

Correct,... as far as I understand, the observable universe is limited by the Hubble Radius, which is approximately 15 billion light years. The cosmos is actually infinite, but from anywhere within this infinity, any observation using light will create the impression that is limited to the Hubble radius.

In other words, the big bang theory treats the observable universe as being all there is, and though it is considered main stream science, there is much more to it.
Main stream science in many ways is like some fundamentalist religions, they mistake the dogmatic theoretical belief as truth itself.

 

[Tau]

Correct,... as far as I understand, the observable universe is limited by the Hubble Radius, which is approximately 15 billion light years. The cosmos is actually infinite, but from anywhere within this infinity, any observation using light will create the impression that is limited to the Hubble radius.

In other words, the big bang theory treats the observable universe as being all there is, and though it is considered main stream science, there is much more to it.
Main stream science in many ways is like some fundamentalist religions, they mistake the dogmatic theoretical belief as truth itself.

We know how big the universe is because of the hubble constant, it tells us how much the universe has been expanding and assuming it started at a single point, which the backround radiation left over from the big bang confirms, we can then infer how big the universe should be now and at any point in the future.

We obtain values for the hubble constant by measuring the recession speeds of distant galaxies, by analyzing the doppler shift in the light we recieve from them..
Thats why those stupid mainstream scientists say the universe is finite, the fools...lol

Edit:
The infinite static universe theory has long been discarded...

 

[Ben Dhyan]

The infinite static universe theory has long been discarded...

What you mean is that the infinite static universe has long been discarded by most contemporary main stream scientists.
Please take note that there are many reputable scientists who believe 'big bang' theory is erroneous.
These alternate theories dismiss 'red shift' as being exclusively being the result of 'Doppler effect'. See evidence provided by astronomer Halton Arp,...
Halton Arp's discoveries about redshift

For some interesting scientific alternate views of the Universal structure, try,...
Science Article: Dr Milo Wolff: The Wave Structure of Matter (Electron): Origin of the Laws of Nature

...and here is a valid scientific theory that even questions the prevailing main stream theory of Matter itself,..
Matter is made of waves