Is the Universe finite or infinite? If its finite, and you were at the edge of it, what would you see? And..?

Question

... what would lie beyond it's edge or end? What would happen if you attempted to pass through it? If its finite, then there must be an end to it. So we can at least theorize about traveling to the place where it ends. But then what's beyond that?

Answer 1

Just because it's finite doesn't mean it has an edge.

Does a circle have an end?

Answer 2

The Universe is finite, but has no end. It's like travelling to the north pole, you will just keep going on and on and never reach it. Maybe just go round and round in ever expanding circles.

You can not go beyond the Universe, because there is no beyond. It does not exist.

Answer 3

The Universe is 'finite but unbounded'. It's finite in size, but curves around itself in every direction, like the surface of a sphere. On a sphere (like the Earth), you can walk in any direction and never see an 'edge'. The Universe is like that, but in EVERY direction. It's not a shape that we encounter on Earth, altho the closest thing would be like a video game where you travel off one side of the screen and reappear on the other, as if you had gone 'around'.

But because the Universe is expanding, you would never be able to go all the way around. So every spot in the Universe could be considered the 'center'.

There is nothing 'outside' of this shape, since there is no actual 'edge' to it.  

Answer 4

>Is the Universe finite or infinite?

It is finite, at least in physical size. Its current age is also finite, but its potential lifespan may be infinite.

>If its finite, and you were at the edge of it, what would you see?

There is no 'edge' that you can perceive. The space of the Universe curves back on itself in four dimensions, so theoretically you could keep on flying in a straight line and eventually end up right back were you started, without having reached any 'edge' on the way. To put it another way, the Universe has no edge in pretty much the same way that a circle has no end, only the Universe has three dimensions whereas the line on the outside of the circle has only one. The REAL edge of the Universe, meanwhile, is actually infinitely close to you no matter where you are, but in a direction you can't point, any more than this text can pop out of your two-dimensional monitor screen.

>And..?

>... what would lie beyond it's edge or end?

Probably other universes. However, so far we have found no way to break through the side of our own universe, so we can't know for sure whether they exist or, if they do, what they might be like. Some of them may contain other intelligent life.

>If its finite, then there must be an end to it. So we can at least theorize about traveling to the place where it ends.

We're already AT the place where it ends, but know no way of getting through the barrier. Just as this text is already technically right next to the space just in front of the screen, but has no way of leaving the confines of the screen and traveling out into that space.

Answer 5

Out of all those questions you asked, we can only have a clear answer for one.

The universe is finite, but is expanding. It is expanding at the Hubble constant. The universe does end, but the end is constantly getting farther and farther away.

Answer 6

The universe cannot be infinite for then it would be eternal. Anything eternal has no beginning and has no end. The universe had a beginning and it will have an end.

At the edge of the universe is the start of the other side.

Answer 7

The universe is infinite only because we can't see the "edge".

To an ant, the block you live on is infinite.

To a bacterium, the puddle of water it swims in is infinite.

Answer 8

The universe is finite. the redshifts in the spectrum of distant stars shows that they are moving away from us at an unconstant rate. thats exactly what the big bang theory says.... and the universe is thus expanding. if it is infinite, it cannot expand anymore. which means that the universe is finite.

about your question beyond the universe, thats a big question mark science could not answer, and i doubt if science can ever can.

Answer 9

this is a very interesting question... if the universe is spherical, then it would have no end. at least not on the surface, but earth (spherical) can be left to explore the outer universe.

I believe that the universe was created to be so vast that it would never be completely explored by man. (in fact, i believe we will never exit our own solar system with a manned vessel)

but i believe that the universe is infinite in the way that if you did reach one end, you would not know it and you would come out on the other side (like a sphere/circle or 8)

sadly, nobody on earth can tell us with absolute certainty, so i guess we will never know...

Answer 10

I don't believe there is an end.  I've pondered this question a lot myself and I thought, what would nothing look like?  It's impossible I believe that there is an end to this universe.  I think that it's been expanding since its birth and will keep expanding until its death.