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| The Center of the Universe |
Since the light that we see from stars and distant galaxies has been traveling for some 13.7 billion
years, it seems logical that we might be 13.7 billion light years from the center of the universe.
However, depending on how we look at it, we have to conclude that it is not that simple, or maybe
that it is more simple than that.
Cosmology is the scientific study of the origin and structure of the universe. The cosmologists are
fond of saying that the universe actually has no center. This is because, at the moment 13.7 billion
years ago when the whole thing began, the event that is now called the Big Bang, there was not yet
any space or time. This can be difficult to conceive. What they tell us is that the Big Bang was not an
explosion in space, because there was no space for it to explode into. Also, even though we know that
it happened 13.7 billion years ago, there was no time earlier. There was no earlier time.
Time and space are universal dimensions. Quantum physicists find that, to make their theories work,
they must hypothesize the existence of ten, eleven, twenty-six or more dimensions. We human beings,
working with our limited senses, are familiar with only four of these, three spatial dimensions and
time. Another way to express them might be: up and down, back and forth, side to side and past to
future. Each of these pairs of opposites has a center which we could call here and now.
One of the very first features of the Big Bang event was the inflation of the dimensions. This is
thought to have occurred 10 seconds after the creation of the universe. It provided a place and time
for the matter and energy to radiate from the singularity.
Most of us intuitively imagine that the empty regions of outer space contain nothing, but this is not
exactly true.
Nothing is a useful concept. While looking for a certain tool, let's say a hammer, we might look
inside a box in the shed and then report that there was nothing in the box.
Of course, that's not accurate. There may be no hammer in the box, but there probably is air and
dust.
Suppose the box contains a sealed vacuum. Suppose further that the box has a transparent window,
and that the inside has been cleaned to perfection. Now can we say there is nothing in the box?
Well, not exactly. There is still light in there; that's how we can see whether or not the box contains a
hammer. Besides that, there might be other forms of electromagnetic radiation: infrared, gamma,
microwaves. There are also neutrinos, tiny little subatomic particles that permeate the universe.
But let's say that somehow the walls of this box are able to block out everything, every sort of
radiation and every form of matter. Would we then be correct in declaring that there was nothing in
the box?
Again, the answer is no. After all, it is still a box; it still has length, width and depth, and inside the
box time is still passing.
The universe is the same. Even devoid of radiation and matter, it still has dimension. It still has size.
It is still space. It still has time. These are the factors that expanded during the period of inflation,
and the universe continues to expand.
Astronomers in their observations of stars and galaxies came to the unmistakable conclusion that
most of the objects in the universe are getting farther and farther away from everything else. On
small scales this is not so. A falling ball or a meteor are getting closer to the earth, drawn by gravity.
There are stars that are close enough to one another that their gravity overcomes the outward
expansion of the universe, pulling them into orbits or collisions. Black holes, with their tremendous
gravity, cause the surrounding matter and energy to draw closer and eventually fall into the dark
depths. But on the large scale the stars, galaxies and galactic clusters are all hurtling away from one
another.
The question that immediately leaps to mind is: how can they all be getting farther apart? If I am in
a crowd and I walk away from someone, am I not walking toward some others?
The answer is that space itself is expanding. Physicists are fond of using the analogy of a balloon with
dots inked onto the surface. When the balloon is inflated, the dots get farther apart.
Another interesting simulation is to take an array of dots of various sizes scattered in random
fashion. Then you make a copy of this array, expand it by 5%, and put it on a transparency. Now
you can lay the transparency over the original collection of dots. The two groups will appear to be
much the same, but if you line up one of the dots on the top layer with the same dot on the bottom
layer, it looks like the dot you've chosen is the center of the expansion. You can do this yourself; just
click here.
The astronomers reasoned that, if the universe is expanding, then going back in time will bring us to
one point from which everything originated. This point is called a singularity. It has no dimensions,
spatial or temporal.
Most of the earlier cosmological theorists believed that the universe has an infinite past. Einstein and
Newton held this opinion, that the universe has always existed, and that no matter how far into the
past one traveled, there was always more, always earlier times. Moreover, these great thinkers felt
that, along with being of an infinite age, the vast panoply of stars had always been much as we see it
today. However, in 1929, an astronomer at Caltech, Edwin Hubble, discovered that the universe is
expanding.
Although this concept is challenged by some, I, along with most of the astronomers and cosmic
theoreticians, accept the idea that the universe is expanding and that, on a large scale, all of the
galactic clusters are getting farther apart. We believe this because the theory is supported by
observations and experiments.
What we need to keep in mind is that the discipline that we are pursuing here is Yoga.
years, it seems logical that we might be 13.7 billion light years from the center of the universe.
However, depending on how we look at it, we have to conclude that it is not that simple, or maybe
that it is more simple than that.
Cosmology is the scientific study of the origin and structure of the universe. The cosmologists are
fond of saying that the universe actually has no center. This is because, at the moment 13.7 billion
years ago when the whole thing began, the event that is now called the Big Bang, there was not yet
any space or time. This can be difficult to conceive. What they tell us is that the Big Bang was not an
explosion in space, because there was no space for it to explode into. Also, even though we know that
it happened 13.7 billion years ago, there was no time earlier. There was no earlier time.
Time and space are universal dimensions. Quantum physicists find that, to make their theories work,
they must hypothesize the existence of ten, eleven, twenty-six or more dimensions. We human beings,
working with our limited senses, are familiar with only four of these, three spatial dimensions and
time. Another way to express them might be: up and down, back and forth, side to side and past to
future. Each of these pairs of opposites has a center which we could call here and now.
One of the very first features of the Big Bang event was the inflation of the dimensions. This is
thought to have occurred 10 seconds after the creation of the universe. It provided a place and time
for the matter and energy to radiate from the singularity.
Most of us intuitively imagine that the empty regions of outer space contain nothing, but this is not
exactly true.
Nothing is a useful concept. While looking for a certain tool, let's say a hammer, we might look
inside a box in the shed and then report that there was nothing in the box.
Of course, that's not accurate. There may be no hammer in the box, but there probably is air and
dust.
Suppose the box contains a sealed vacuum. Suppose further that the box has a transparent window,
and that the inside has been cleaned to perfection. Now can we say there is nothing in the box?
Well, not exactly. There is still light in there; that's how we can see whether or not the box contains a
hammer. Besides that, there might be other forms of electromagnetic radiation: infrared, gamma,
microwaves. There are also neutrinos, tiny little subatomic particles that permeate the universe.
But let's say that somehow the walls of this box are able to block out everything, every sort of
radiation and every form of matter. Would we then be correct in declaring that there was nothing in
the box?
Again, the answer is no. After all, it is still a box; it still has length, width and depth, and inside the
box time is still passing.
The universe is the same. Even devoid of radiation and matter, it still has dimension. It still has size.
It is still space. It still has time. These are the factors that expanded during the period of inflation,
and the universe continues to expand.
Astronomers in their observations of stars and galaxies came to the unmistakable conclusion that
most of the objects in the universe are getting farther and farther away from everything else. On
small scales this is not so. A falling ball or a meteor are getting closer to the earth, drawn by gravity.
There are stars that are close enough to one another that their gravity overcomes the outward
expansion of the universe, pulling them into orbits or collisions. Black holes, with their tremendous
gravity, cause the surrounding matter and energy to draw closer and eventually fall into the dark
depths. But on the large scale the stars, galaxies and galactic clusters are all hurtling away from one
another.
The question that immediately leaps to mind is: how can they all be getting farther apart? If I am in
a crowd and I walk away from someone, am I not walking toward some others?
The answer is that space itself is expanding. Physicists are fond of using the analogy of a balloon with
dots inked onto the surface. When the balloon is inflated, the dots get farther apart.
Another interesting simulation is to take an array of dots of various sizes scattered in random
fashion. Then you make a copy of this array, expand it by 5%, and put it on a transparency. Now
you can lay the transparency over the original collection of dots. The two groups will appear to be
much the same, but if you line up one of the dots on the top layer with the same dot on the bottom
layer, it looks like the dot you've chosen is the center of the expansion. You can do this yourself; just
click here.
The astronomers reasoned that, if the universe is expanding, then going back in time will bring us to
one point from which everything originated. This point is called a singularity. It has no dimensions,
spatial or temporal.
Most of the earlier cosmological theorists believed that the universe has an infinite past. Einstein and
Newton held this opinion, that the universe has always existed, and that no matter how far into the
past one traveled, there was always more, always earlier times. Moreover, these great thinkers felt
that, along with being of an infinite age, the vast panoply of stars had always been much as we see it
today. However, in 1929, an astronomer at Caltech, Edwin Hubble, discovered that the universe is
expanding.
Although this concept is challenged by some, I, along with most of the astronomers and cosmic
theoreticians, accept the idea that the universe is expanding and that, on a large scale, all of the
galactic clusters are getting farther apart. We believe this because the theory is supported by
observations and experiments.
What we need to keep in mind is that the discipline that we are pursuing here is Yoga.
- Who needs to know that the universe started as a pinpoint of infinite density?
- What do the findings of celestial observation and analysis have to do with a hermit sitting on a
mat in the desert? - Where is the connection between distant galaxies and meditation?
- When does body conditioning, self-study and attentiveness to God include the comprehension
of events that occurred billions of years ago? - How does the size and shape of the midnight sky have anything to do with bending and
stretching? - Why must we pay any attention to the vast cosmos when we seek to contemplate our own depth?
-35 |
| Yoga for Carnivores by Jay Dyck |