The observable universe is a ball-shaped region of the universe comprising all matter that can be observed from Earth or its space-based telescopes and exploratory probes at the present time; the electromagnetic radiation from these objects has had time to reach the Solar System and Earth since the beginning of the cosmological expansion. Initially, it was estimated that there may be 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe, although that number was reduced in 2021 to only several hundred billion based on data from New Horizons. Assuming the universe is isotropic, the distance to the edge of the observable universe is roughly the same in every direction. That is, the observable universe is a spherical region centered on the observer. Every location in the universe has its own observable universe, which may or may not overlap with the one centered on Earth.
The word observable in this sense does not refer to the capability of modern technology to detect light or other information from an object, or whether there is anything to be detected. It refers to the physical limit created by the speed of light itself. No signal can travel faster than light, hence there is a maximum distance (called the particle horizon) beyond which nothing can be detected, as the signals could not have reached us yet. Sometimes astrophysicists distinguish between the visible universe, which includes only signals emitted since recombination (when hydrogen atoms were formed from protons and electrons and photons were emitted)—and the observable universe, which includes signals since the beginning of the cosmological expansion (the Big Bang in traditional physical cosmology, the end of the inflationary epoch in modern cosmology).
According to calculations, the current comoving distance to particles from which the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) was emitted, which represents the radius of the visible universe, is about 14.0 billion parsecs (about 45.7 billion light-years); the comoving distance to the edge of the observable universe is about 14.
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In modern physical cosmology, the cosmological principle is the notion that the spatial distribution of matter in the universe is equally distributed and isotropic when viewed on a large enough scale, since the forces are expected to act equally throughout the universes on a large scale, and should, therefore, produce no observable inequalities in the large-scale structuring over the course of evolution of the matter field that was initially laid down by the Big Bang.
A supercluster is a large group of smaller galaxy clusters or galaxy groups; they are among the largest known structures in the universe. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group galaxy group (which contains more than 54 galaxies), which in turn is part of the Virgo Supercluster, which is part of the Laniakea Supercluster. The large size and low density of superclusters means that they, unlike clusters, expand with the Hubble expansion. The number of superclusters in the observable universe is estimated to be 10 million.
The expansion of the universe is the increase in distance between gravitationally unbound parts of the observable universe with time. It is an intrinsic expansion; the universe does not expand "into" anything and does not require space to exist "outside" it. To any observer in the universe, it appears that all but the nearest galaxies (which are bound by gravity) recede at speeds that are proportional to their distance from the observer, on average.
Cosmology is the study of the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole. This course describes the principal themes of cosmology, as seen
from the point of view of observations.
This course is the basic introduction to modern cosmology. It introduces students to the main concepts and formalism of cosmology, the observational status of Hot Big Bang theory
and discusses major
Be captivated by the exotic objects that populate the Radio Sky and gain a solid understanding of their physics and the fundamental techniques we use to observe them.
This course covers the principles and practices of radio astronomical observations, in particular with modern interferometers. Topics range from radio telescope technology to the measurement equation
The Communication A module of the course on Global Issues tackles challenges
related to instantaneous communication and social media. The interdisciplinary
approach implemented integrates SHS and engi
Explores the impact of COVID-19 on astronomy and the European Southern Observatory, delves into the Friedmann equations, and discusses the concept of dark energy.
Explores the 3D distribution of galaxies, galaxy clustering, and the cosmic microwave background, shedding light on the observable universe's contents and properties.
In the standard model of particle physics, the chiral anomaly can occur in relativistic plasmas and plays a role in the early Universe, protoneutron stars, heavy-ion collisions, and quantum materials. It gives rise to a magnetic instability if the number d ...
Cluster-scale strong lensing is a powerful tool for exploring the properties of dark matter and constraining cosmological models. However, due to the complex parameter space, pixelized strong lens modelling in galaxy clusters is computationally expensive, ...
We use James Webb Space Telescope Near-Infrared Camera Wide Field Slitless Spectroscopy (NIRCam WFSS) and the Near-Infrared spectrograph (NIRSpec) in the Cosmic Evolution Early Release survey to measure rest-frame optical emission-line ratios of 155 galaxi ...