Location of Earth in the Universe

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of Earth's location in the universe, particularly in relation to the Big Bang and redshift observations. Participants explore whether Earth can be considered the center of the universe and the implications of such a perspective.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that the location of Earth could be determined using redshift and the Big Bang model, questioning if Earth is the center of the universe.
  • Another participant argues that there is no center or edge to the universe, making the question of Earth's location relative to the universe meaningless.
  • Some participants propose that while Earth is at the center of the observable universe, this does not imply a geographical center in the entire universe.
  • A hypothetical analogy is presented comparing the universe to a two-dimensional surface, suggesting that no point on such a surface can be considered the center.
  • Several comments reflect a humorous take on the idea of being the center of the universe, particularly in relation to personal experiences with teenagers.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of views, with some asserting that Earth is at the center of the observable universe while others emphasize that there is no center to the universe as a whole. The discussion remains unresolved with multiple competing perspectives.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference concepts such as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and the nature of space-time, indicating that understanding these concepts is complex and not fully resolved.

new23d
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I have tried searching around for this but couldn't find anything basing the location on Redshift and the Big Bang. By observing direction and velocity of Redshifting objects, and with the knowledge of the Big Bang model, I thought the (approximate) location of our planet could be determined.

Comments, links, sources, references anyone? Is Earth the centre of the Universe?
 
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There is no center or edge to the universe so questioning where we are in the universe is not meaningful. We can only describe our position relative to various other objects (galaxies, etc)

You would do well to read the FAQ in the cosmology section
 
What in effect, you can say is that we are at the 'centre' of the universe - but it's not a geographical 'centre'.
And the CMB (the farthest back we can see in time) looks the same from all other points in the universe - so wherever you go, the CMB looks the same.
From which, you can only draw that the CMB is a time away rather than a distance.

Understanding space-time is something that as yet, has proved impossible for anyone to get their heads around - given that we do not understand how the universe exists/existed WITHOUT (NB : not 'before') space-time.

Our intuition always demands a where and a when ... a before/after and a here/there.
To understand the non-space-time universe, we have to somehow suspend that intuition.
I'm sure someone someday will manage it - maybe a PF member.
 
Take the Earth for example. In this hypothetical situation, we're not discussing the interior of the Earth or anything outside of it. We consider the surface to be all there is, a two-dimensional Universe.

Is any point on the sphere the centre of this Universe? Absolutely not.

Of course, this is an imperfect analogy. First of all, the Universe is 3-dimensional (in space, at least,) not 2-dimensional, but we could use the same logic for a 3-dimensional Universe, it's just hard to visualize a 3-dimensional surface in 4-space. The other thing is, it's not necessarily the surface of a "sphere" (or at least, the 4-dimensional equivalent of one.) It could easily be torus-like (donut,) it could just be infinitely large and "flat."
 
It's hard not to think of Earth as the center of our Universe - isn't it?
 
Earth is always at the center of the observable universe - unless you are somewhere else.
 
So my teenaged kid is right, she is the center of the universe?
 
FiveWords said:
So my teenaged kid is right, she is the center of the universe?

LOL - there is no question of that!
 
FiveWords said:
So my teenaged kid is right, she is the center of the universe?

OBSERVABLE universe! There is no center to the universe as a whole as far as we know.
 
  • #10
Drakkith said:
OBSERVABLE universe! There is no center to the universe as a whole as far as we know.

What, you've never been a teenager ?
 
  • #11
phinds said:
What, you've never been a teenager ?

I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of nuclear weapons at this base.
 

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