What is the size of the universe? [video]

The universe has always taken the sleep of many people around the world: how big is it? Is there a final frontier? Is it increasing in size? These and other questions are answered in the video below, which explains scientific concepts in a fun way in less than 1 minute.

To begin with, the video distinguishes between the universe as a whole, which holds innumerable mysteries, and the observable universe, that is, the one we can see here from Earth. Since the universe is about 13.8 billion years old, it is easy to conclude that as we look at it from our planet, we are seeing stars whose lights are at most 13.8 billion light years. Thus we can imagine that the observable universe of Earth has a diameter of about 27.5 billion light years. But this is a mistaken calculation.

The size of the observable universe

To begin with, the universe is expanding, so the star whose light took 13.8 billion years to reach us has moved farther and is now more than 46 billion light-years from Earth. . Thus we have an observable universe with a diameter greater than 93 billion light years.

If it's hard to imagine something so big, the video still makes a comparison that can drive anyone crazy: the size of the earth relative to the observable universe is the equivalent of the size of the influenza virus relative to our solar system. The dimensions are so absurd that it is virtually impossible to visualize this information mentally.

And when it comes to the universe as a whole, including the portion we can't see, we are considering something infinitely bigger.

Our universe is infinite

Calculating the boundaries of the universe may be impossible. For starters, it may not have borders, meaning it may not have a spatial end. In addition, it may not have a center either, since it is probably infinite.

As if that were not enough, the universe is expanding. Every second on earth we receive even older lights from the ends of the universe. It is as if all the time we are pushing the boundaries of the observable universe beyond our perception of the cosmos. Amazing, no?