Is the Universe a Giant Russian Doll?

[stany]

We are all living on a big round ball of rock that circles (along with other balls of rock) a large ball of fire

This large ball of fire circles whatever is at the centre of our galaxy and that galaxy circles around the universe with other galaxies

By this reckoning it seems to me that its possible the universe it self is probably a huge ‘ball’ circling around with other universes. which could be all part of another 'ball' that circles around... Its like a big Russian Doll

Also if you were to start a journey around the Earth you’d eventually come to where you’d left off. In order to leave the Earth properly you have to break clear of gravity/the atmosphere etc…perhaps this is true of the universe…if you set off and traveled the universe you’d end up at the same place you’d left from…In order to leave the universe you’d have break clear like the way you break clear from the Earth (black hole?)

Apologies if this seems a very simplistic 5 year old way to look at it - lots of balls and circles

oh and why is everything round and circlular anyway? is that Gravity? (einstines theory etc)

im sorry I am really not that versed in this stuff

 

[JaredJames]

We are all living on a big round ball of rock that circles (along with other balls of rock) a large ball of fire

Right (well, not so much 'fire').

This large ball of fire circles whatever is at the centre of our galaxy and that galaxy circles around the universe with other galaxies

Wrong.

The universe is expanding. Galaxies are moving away from each other and towards each other. They aren't orbitting anything.

oh and why is everything round and circlular anyway? is that Gravity? (einstines theory etc)

The second person to mention everything being 'round' today.

I assume you mean orbits? Well how exactly would a square one work?

 

[bcrowell]

If you want to get started with cosmology, a great book is Relativity Simply Explained, by Martin Gardner.

 

[qraal]

We are all living on a big round ball of rock that circles (along with other balls of rock) a large ball of fire

Some are rock, some are fluid and some are gas. The Sun isn't rock, fluid or gas. Instead it is made of plasma - ionized matter. Fire is COLD compared to the Sun's plasma.

This large ball of fire circles whatever is at the centre of our galaxy and that galaxy circles around the universe with other galaxies

The Sun doesn't "circle" except approximately. Its orbit around the Galaxy is complex, but a rough wavy edged circle is close.

The Galaxy doesn't circle around anything, as another poster has noted, though it is moving towards a large concentration of mass in the distant Universe at about 600 km/s.

By this reckoning it seems to me that its possible the universe it self is probably a huge ‘ball’ circling around with other universes. which could be all part of another 'ball' that circles around... Its like a big Russian Doll

People speculate there's a Multiverse containing our "Cosmos" along with many others. Maybe. Maybe not. Currently it's an untestable speculation. Not impossible and perhaps highly useful, but as yet unsupported by direct observations.

Also if you were to start a journey around the Earth you’d eventually come to where you’d left off. In order to leave the Earth properly you have to break clear of gravity/the atmosphere etc…perhaps this is true of the universe…if you set off and traveled the universe you’d end up at the same place you’d left from…In order to leave the universe you’d have break clear like the way you break clear from the Earth (black hole?)

Possibly. The curvature of the Cosmos is very close to "flat" and may in fact be "flat", in a 4-D way. The topology of the Cosmos is unknown, but is widely assumed to be an infinite, flat expanse because that's a very simple topology. But it might actually be more complex and it just looks flat as far as we can currently see. If it is more complicated, then light be able to circle back on itself endlessly.

Apologies if this seems a very simplistic 5 year old way to look at it - lots of balls and circles

oh and why is everything round and circlular anyway? is that Gravity? (einstines theory etc)

im sorry I am really not that versed in this stuff

Gravity has a lot to do with the balls and circles of the planets, stars and their orbits. A sphere's surface is evenly spaced from its centre and this creates an equipotential in a uniform way that big masses seem to flow into. Even the hardest rock will smooth out under gravity's remorseless tug - if it's big enough. Above about ~600 km across and everything forms a ball. If it spins, then the ball is no longer bounded by a sphere, but an ellipsoid of some sort.

At a Cosmic level, gravity and Cosmic curvature might be one and the same thing, or some more complicated relationship might be required.

 

[stany]

thanks for the replies. i really must read up about all this - Carl Sagans Cosmos would be a good start i think

 

[94JZA80]

thanks for the replies. i really must read up about all this - Carl Sagans Cosmos would be a good start i think

actually Carl Sagan's Cosmos is what got me so interested in astronomy, astrophysics, relativity, quantum theory, etc. several years ago. plus Sagan is one hell of a writer - he really knows how to keep even the most uninformed laymen interested in the material. i would recommend that book to anyone.

also, if you're more into pictures books and coffee table reading, Universe by Robert Dinwiddle is a great book that puts things into perspective without delving too deep into anyone sub-topic of cosmology.

 

[stany]

yeah and he wrote Contact which got made into an OK but couldve been better film

heh i wonder if Brian Cox is working on a novel right now

 

[Chronos]

Affirming graal, there is no evidence our galaxy is orbiting any particular point, nor is there evidence the universe as a whole is rotating. Either effect would be rather easily detected.

 

[phinds]

By this reckoning it seems to me that its possible the universe it self is probably a huge ‘ball’ circling around with other universes. which could be all part of another 'ball' that circles around... Its like a big Russian Doll

As has already been noted in different words, you are equating localize clumps of matter with an expanding universe but the two don't equate in the way you mean and extrapolating from one type to the other doesn't work.