Is the universe shaped in a sphere?

Question

From what i know and what i have heard, the universe goes on forever, and is getting bigger. Would the only explanation be that it is shaped in a sphere?

Answer 1

Their is really no denfinte shape of the Universe because nothing exist outside it. Alot of be have a problem grasping and understanding this so that why they make shapes for it like that sphere and  theories supporting it. The universe is infinte you keep going and going on to the blackness. Im not talking about the galaxies expanding etc but father than that.

Answer 2

That's assuming the universe is expanding "forward" symmetrically in all directions... What if the "Big Bang" wasn't as formal and perfect and symmetrical, exerting more force in one direction more than the other... we might have something oblate or even more messed up.

Formally, depending on which theory in physics you subscribe to to calculate the properties of the universe, the shape of the universe tends to vary.  

Answer 3

Actually we don't even know enough about the shape of the Universe to affirm that the Universe is infinite or not.

Suppose we put an ant on a infinite sheet of paper. The ant is short-sighted and sees only that close to him his universe look pretty flat. If he starts walking he will never meet a boundary and never come back to the same place again. The two-dimensional plane is infinite and without bounds.

Next put the ant on a large sphere. Again our ant can not see far enough to observe any curvature. If he starts walking in one direction he will never come to a boundary, but this time he can make a roundtrip. The spherical universe is unbounded but finite.

We are in the same position as the ant, but in three dimensions. Locally our Universe seems flat and unbounded, but we don't know if we are in the 3 dimensional equivalent of the plane or the sphere. In the first case the Universe would be infinite, in the second place it would be finite.

Now the fun and speculation starts....

Even weirder shapes are possible. In two dimensions our ant has a third possibility, a universe shaped as a torus or a donut. We can make a torus by taking a sheet of paper, roll it up in a cylinder and then glue the two open ends together.

The torus also has a three dimensional equivalent. Take a cube and imagine the following rule: everytime we leave the cube-universe through a side, we immediately enter it again to the side opposite. It is as if the opposing sides are glued together.

Strange? Yes, but not excluded...

My current favourite shape for the Universe is the following. Think of *two* three dimensional spheres. We live inside one of the spheres. A spaceship that flies to the boundary of one sphere immediately reappears on the corresponding point on the boundary of the other sphere and continues its voyage there. It is as if the boundaries of the two spheres are somehow glued together.

Neat, isn't it?

Answer 4

It is spherical and always expanding  

Answer 5

as its expanding every second so doesn't have any definite shape

Answer 6

You must consider more than three dimensions...

Answer 7

Hypersphere actually... if the universe is finite in size and mass.

A hypersphere is a sphere with an added dimension. Instead of it having an edge if you reach the "edge" you will end up on the other side of the sphere. This is why some scientists say the universe kinda wraps around itself. If I were to leave Earth in a space ship and follow a perfectly straight path I would end right back at Earth coming form the opposite direction... get it?

Now if the universe is infinite that no matter how far you go you will never reach your starting point via a straight path.

So no matter what the universe has no physical edge. If you find this hard to grasp than don't think of all the galaxies flying apart... imagine more space being created between them.

Answer 8

Well the universe is tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... big to even explore the side of the universe so we don't even know wat size and shape it is.

Answer 9

You have to understand that we many never know. We can only make a guess about the universe. People have might lots of guesses about the universe. So dont fully believe everything you hear as truth or fact. Just make an educated guess of your own.

Answer 10

more likely a four dimensional sphere. no matter the exact shape, it has to be four dimensions.