- #1
turbo
Gold Member
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I'm probably missing something really basic (Doh!), but if it is true that the universe is expanding at an accelerated rate, does it not follow that our visible universe is inevitably shrinking?
If I understand the concept of inflation, there can be galaxies that are currently visible that are presently receding from us at faster than the speed of light. If expansion is accelerating, though, the objects at the limits of our visibility will redshift further and further and over the course of billions of years they will disappear from our view.
Now for the hard part: If the universe is infinite and there are infinite numbers of galaxies in every dimension, could the redshifted light of the infinite population of distant galaxies average out and be responsible for the cosmic microwave background radiation? I understand that the CMBR is statistically smooth, but as the resolution of our telescopes improve, will we find enough "lumpiness" in the temperature profiles to reconsider the "Big Ban" Echo" model?
I guess I'm thinking that Olber's Paradox wasn't such a bad idea, but that given the nature of electromagnetic radiation, the "bright as the Sun" night sky just needed to be put in the context of "bright in WHAT frequencies".
If I understand the concept of inflation, there can be galaxies that are currently visible that are presently receding from us at faster than the speed of light. If expansion is accelerating, though, the objects at the limits of our visibility will redshift further and further and over the course of billions of years they will disappear from our view.
Now for the hard part: If the universe is infinite and there are infinite numbers of galaxies in every dimension, could the redshifted light of the infinite population of distant galaxies average out and be responsible for the cosmic microwave background radiation? I understand that the CMBR is statistically smooth, but as the resolution of our telescopes improve, will we find enough "lumpiness" in the temperature profiles to reconsider the "Big Ban" Echo" model?
I guess I'm thinking that Olber's Paradox wasn't such a bad idea, but that given the nature of electromagnetic radiation, the "bright as the Sun" night sky just needed to be put in the context of "bright in WHAT frequencies".