How much is the universe expanding each year?

Answer 1

We cannot know for sure, but we're sure that the universe expanded faster than the speed of light. While it is physically impossible for any object to move through space faster than the speed of light (according to Einstein's theory of relativity), it is possible for space itself to expand faster than the speed of light since it is not an object, but the area in which all objects and laws of physics are contained. In fact, space is still expanding faster than the speed of light.

Answer 2

The short answer is about 71 km/s/Mpc (kilometers per second per megaparsec).

The value that expresses this is the "Hubble Constant", first measured by Edwin Hubble when his studies of galaxies indicated that the Universe was expanding. His original figure was far too large, due to the incomplete state of relevant knowledge at the time, but modern understanding and measurement (including observations made with the Hubble Space Telescope, named after him), have narrowed it down.

The Universe is expanding because space is stretching. What this implies is that the more space there is between two galaxies, the faster the expansion of the Universe is carrying the galaxies apart. So the relevant question is: for a given distance between two points, how fast is space stretching between them?

The distance unit astronomers use on this scale is the megaparsec, or one million parsecs. A parsec is about 3.26 light-years (a light-year is a distance -- it's the distance light travels in a vacuum in one year).

So if there are two galaxies one megaparsec apart, how fast is space stretching between them? The best current measurements, from several sources, all give answers in the area of 71 kilometers per second, so we say that the current value of the Hubble Constant is about 71 km/s for every megaparsec of separation, or 71 km/s/Mpc.

Note that this is the value of the Hubble Constant today; due to the ongoing effect of something called "dark energy", the rate of expansion of the Universe is increasing. This means that the value of the Hubble Constant is not really constant, but is actually getting larger with time, albeit at a rate that is far too small to affect observations over human time scales.

Answer 3

The Universe is not expanding. The Universe is in equilibrium. The idea that the Universe is expanding results from a mis-interpretation of Hubble's redshift measures and the Biblical Creation Story. Einstein observed that the universe was not contracting under gravity and added a cosmological constant to "account" for the lack of contraction. This cosmological constant is an anti-gravity feature that adds expansion. mathematicians claimed that Einstein's Equations only allowed for expansion or contraction. When the redshift was discovered the deal was sealed. Hubble did not interpret the redshift as an expansion, he called it "an hither to unknown principle of nature". Hubble was correct and the current view of expansion is wrong. There is a herd mentality in physics like in Stock Market Bubbles. The Big Bang is a Bubble, there is no expansion.

Answer 4

So quickly that no matter how fast you went, you could never catch the edge of it.

Answer 5

a parsec distance which is 3.26 lightyears

Answer 6

3 times past the bubble 4 IS ALL THE WAY 7 casts The ETERNITY AS SHADOWS LITE IN MAY

Answer 7

Which of the following would best support the theory that the universe is continuing to expand

Answer 8

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