How can the observable universe be over 90 billion light-years across when the universe is only 14 billion years old?
In: Physics
The stars are moving but the space in between them is also warping, distorting and expanding. You know in the Doctor Strange movie when he’s running down the hall and Mads Mikkelson’s character does magic to make the hall get longer? It’s like that: the end of the hall got further away even though the mirrors at the end of the hall didn’t physically move from where they were.
Things can only MOVE at the speed of light, but space can EXPAND much faster than that.
Side note: this is why Star Trek’s engines go at “warp speed”: the Enterprise doesn’t move faster than light; it moves at normal speed but the engine creates a “warp bubble” which distorts and warps and shrinks space itself so that the Enterprise has less distance to cover (and after the Enterprise has passed by, space expands again and snaps back to normal, making it look like the Enterprise went a much greater distance than it physically did).
I mention Star Trek [because scientists figure we could actually do that in real life if only we could find the right fuel](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive).
Latest Answers