Is Earth in the center of the universe?

Discussion in 'Science and Nature' started by dishin reg, Aug 15, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. I always thought of this to be silly, but I really considered it when I was watching a video discussing redshift.

    Scientists observe all galaxies moving away from us, from all points of view on Earth.

    If they're all moving away then reverse time back far enough and they would all be coming from the point in space where Earth sits, making us the center of the universe.

    Is this true, why or why not?
     
  2. Because red shift doesn't just show that galaxies are moving away from our solar system, but that they're also moving away from each other.

    MelT
     
  3. #3 didier12, Aug 15, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 15, 2012
    Say you were in a completely different galaxy than ours, you would observe the same phenomenon of galaxies appearing to move away from yours.

    The best way to imagine it is that were insects on the outside of an ever expanding bubble, So whatever insect you are or galaxy in this case it appears like all the other insects and galaxies are moving away from you in all directions as the bubble expands.
     
  4. It's a homogenous effect, each galaxy distancing itself from the next.
     
  5. How do we know we would experience this in another galaxy?


    I've read the balloon with black dots analogy and honestly it makes no sense.
    A balloon, or a bubble in this case have the objects on a 2D plane, while in our universe we're within 3 dimensional space, making the analogy useless because an expanding bubble reacts in the 3rd dimension.

    And besides this every galaxy we observe, the further away they are the faster they're traveling away from us in every direction. So everything is equally expanding away from the point our Earth sits.

    So either A we're in the center of the expanding universe or B, redshift is caused by something completely different than what we think causes it.
     
  6. #6 didier12, Aug 15, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 15, 2012
    Yeah well I'm no science expert so I don't really know, that was just the way I had been explained it. But what you said about galaxies further away moving at accelerated speeds doesn't really fit in with that analogy, does anyone know why this happens?

    Edit: I did a quick google search and found this but I dont have a balloon to test it out on. http://www.universetoday.com/13810/why-are-distant-galaxies-moving-away-faster/

    Edit Edit: Ok I've grasped the logic of it now. Say there is a galaxy 3 light years away from you and one that's 12 light years away from you and the universe doubles in size the first galaxy becomes 6 light years away from you and the second 24 light years away from you. Meaning that the second galaxy travelled 12 light years away from you in the same time that the nearer galaxy only moved 3 light years.
     

  7. Because we can measure the redshift proportional to two different galaxies and measure the distance they are expanding from each other, which is consistent with the rate at which they are expanding from ours.
     
  8. #8 Sam_Spade, Aug 15, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 15, 2012
    "The point our earth sits" Is anything but statics. The earth is in constant motion within a star system which is in constant motion within a galaxy that is churning and spinning, which is hurdling through the intergalactic void.

    Also, the move from 2 dimensions to 3 dimensions does not render it a useless analogy... it obviously just stretches your personal credulity. You literally just add a third dimension. Instead of X, Y, you have X, Y and Z. These dimension have a d linear relation and are entirely interchangeable. This is simply a result of academics making their own graphics.

    Also, although astronomers are often citated as saying that "everything is uniformly moving away from the Earth", this is actually not true. There are blue-shifted astronomical objects which are actually travelling towards our spatial location.


    Im curious, you seem to ask a lot of questions (which is good), but many of these are not about a lack of information, but rather.... an inability to put the information together. Im just curious, because I've worked as a special needs educator, but do you maybe have a learning disorder? Have you ever dealt with this in school? I don't mean this as a sleight or anything; there are so useful tactics you can use in order to make better use of your studying time, learning strategies which will make it easier.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  9. Andromeda

    The Andromeda–Milky Way collision is a predicted galaxy collision that will take place in approximately 4 billion years' time between the two largest galaxies in the Local Group—the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way, which contains the Solar System and Earth.
     

  10. No I am not mentally retarded lol, I actually excelled all throughout school and even got bored at times because all the work was so easy and mundane for me while all the other kids seemed to struggle so much with it.

    Some of my posts just may seem derped because I'm usually pretty stoned when I'm on here, like my post I made last night is missing entire words.. dunno how I even missed some of those lol

    I just really like questioning the consensus view, we're probably wrong about alot of things we think we know so why not ask questions?
     
  11. It's just that you ask questions which have easily-found answer, I was just wondering if maybe you have difficult making sense of those answers due to an issue with conceptualization... or perhaps you don't look for them at all.

    Also, you don't have to be "mentally retarded" to have a learning disability. One of the most intelligent and insightful people I've ever worked with was almost completely illiterate and even had difficulty with his own name. It's about how we learn, not what we know.
     
  12. the center is where ever you are.

    that is what is awesome about infinite planes

    self contained vortex
     

  13. Well I was actually googling "Is Earth the center of the universe" and most the results were religious websites or answers from yahoo answers and all of those brought up the balloon with black dots analogy, which to me made no sense.

    Yes if it were dots in 3D space rather than the plane on the outer edge the dots would be all moving away from eachother, but they all wouldn't be expanding equally apart from any given point.

    I'll have to look into blueshift though which was brought up by a previous poster because this was not mentioned in the video I was watching on redshift, though I have heard of it before.

    I just would've found it interesting and rather odd if we were in the relative center of the universe. I mean it's not impossible, something has to be in the center if the universe truly is an expanding sphere afterall lol
     

  14. The point of the balloon analogy is that there isn't a given point of expansion. The rate is uniform form every position. Secondly, the universe isn't a sphere, it's more likely to be mathematically flat or have a topology similar to a saddle.
     
  15. [quote name='"dishin reg"']

    Well I was actually googling "Is Earth the center of the universe" and most the results were religious websites or answers from yahoo answers and all of those brought up the balloon with black dots analogy, which to me made no sense.

    Yes if it were dots in 3D space rather than the plane on the outer edge the dots would be all moving away from eachother, but they all wouldn't be expanding equally apart from any given point.

    I'll have to look into blueshift though which was brought up by a previous poster because this was not mentioned in the video I was watching on redshift, though I have heard of it before.

    I just would've found it interesting and rather odd if we were in the relative center of the universe. I mean it's not impossible, something has to be in the center if the universe truly is an expanding sphere afterall lol[/quote]

    If you don't understand the balloon analogy then Sam.spade is right. You are having trouble understanding an elementary school level concept.

    Ill try to out it simply as possible.

    If space is expanding then every object no matter which way you looked would be moving away from you at the same speed. It would appear as if you were the center of the universe no matter where you are because no matter where you.look everything is moving away
     

  16. Dude your posts will 95% contain spelling and grammatical errors of a 3rd grader.. I'm not sure where you get off trying to insult my intelligence lol..

    And no, they would not all be moving away from each other at the same speed in every direction, hence why we observe blueshift..


    And Samspade if you truly feel the need to further slyly try to attack my intelligence then I'll just report you for harassment, if you really care you could've simply sent a pm.
     
  17. #17 MelT, Aug 17, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 17, 2012
    Then please by all means report me too. Sam and Yuri have made nothing other than accurate assessments of your intelligence. You have made continual statements about science that would shame a six year old. You've claimed that you are quicker on the uptake than others, and yet everything you have said points to you being thicker than poo in a bag. That is shameful and weak.

    Have you ever, really ever, made a contribution to this forum? Have you ever done anything than say that science is wrong? You are here to be a dipshit. You are succeeding. Please, report me too.

    Will it stop you being bitter and angry with people who don't believe in you?Will it change your sorry life or make your father love you? No. So you'll trawl forums for the rest of your life trying to score brownie points off people who laugh at you just so that you can feel like a man.

    Whatever you do, whatever you say, will not stop everyone here from seeing you as a joke. Report me thirty times every day and you will not stop being you.


    MelT

    Disrespect is not tolerated here - WW
     
  18. #18 morange, Aug 17, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 17, 2012
    The observing point is the center of the universe, since we're observing from earth it seems like we're in the center. But it's more like putting dots on a balloon and then when you inflate the balloon from the perspective of each dot it's the center but you can just change which dot you're focused on. There's a great video that explains this much better than I am.

    EDIT: This isn't what I saw, but it seems like it does a good job explaining the idea.

    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1UC6HpxY28[/ame]
     
  19. [quote name='"dishin reg"']

    Dude your posts will 95% contain spelling and grammatical errors of a 3rd grader.. I'm not sure where you get off trying to insult my intelligence lol..

    And no, they would not all be moving away from each other at the same speed in every direction, hence why we observe blueshift..

    And Samspade if you truly feel the need to further slyly try to attack my intelligence then I'll just report you for harassment, if you really care you could've simply sent a pm.[/quote]

    First of all this is about the 7th time you attacked my.spelling and grammar. And again ill call out your red Herring. Then laugh and ask yoyou to Google typo. My strongest subject in school was writing essays and I always aced them. Sorry I don't give a shit about my online fast typing phone grammar.

    And secondly no. You are still misunderstanding the incrediblely simple balloon analogy.

    But I have a feeling its because you refuse to relinquish past beliefs and thus can't accept truth because IR conflicts with your lie
     
  20. #20 Sam_Spade, Aug 17, 2012
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 17, 2012
    Whoa now.

    I sincerely apologize if you're offended. Learning disorders are do not put you at a disadvantage. They do not necessarily have any bearing on your intelligence, but rather the way in which you learn.

    I've worked as an educator and can speak with authority on the subject. Hell, if you want to know, I myself participated in a special education program in grade school.

    Had I been correct, then I could have shared with you some useful learning strategies. That's all there is to it, man. I am a sincere believer that knowledge is power, and that learning enriches lives. We shouldn't be ashamed when somebody needs to do it a little differently. :smoke:

    We're all adults here, I just thought we could have an open and honest discussion about this sort of stuff. You have my apology and that's the last unsolicited contribution from me on the subject.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page