I am really having trouble reconciling the finite nature of a 13.7 billion light year radius, and beyond that we can't see because the Universe was opaque, but if we could we would see the Big Bang, AND the infinity of the Universe.
So the way I am imagining it, we can't see more than 13.7 billion light years because, well the speed of light, which is FINITE, so if we look out and we see a galaxy 2 billion light years away, we are really not observing reality. That galaxy is no longer there, nor does it look like that, nor is really the distance right, because light is reaching us now from it, but it started traveling a long time ago and since then space has expanded and other things could have happened that we won't know about. And yet we accept what we see as fact and have derived modern physics from it. So I guess the issue I'm having is a more abstract one in that, I can either think of reality as what we can see, in which case there is the observable universe and that's it and that makes sense to me and I can comprehend it, but when you start bringing infinity into it, my brain can't process that.
Didn't the Big Bang create time and space? So space is constantly expanding and that's why it is infinite, BUT at any given moment in time there has to be a finite amount of it. That I can also understand. But in an infinitely big space the Big Bang doesn't make sense, it's almost like space was there before it and it just created like a gigantic mega galaxy that we call our universe.
How can someone regardless of where they are in the universe have a similar observable universe as us. That defies my understanding of distance. If there is intelligent life in a galaxy 1 billion light years away, they will see a DIFFERENT observable universe than us. Where we hit that 13.7 billion light years barrier they will be able to see 1 billion years beyond, and what will they see? Different galaxies? I mean I understand that - okay, light from those very very distant redshifted galaxies that we see, as far out as we can see, that's reaching us now after light has traveled 13.7 billion light years, BUT they weren't that distant from us when that light started traveling. The Universe 13.7 billion light years away was really young and really small (and again how can it be small if it's infinite). So it's not like the galaxy was just sitting there and light was traveling within a finite distance. That, combined with the DIFFERENT horizon you get depending on where you are, that is finite, but at the same time everything is still infinite, that just boggles my mind. It would all make perfect sense if only the Universe wasn't infinite. Which I'm not sure it is actually, and it hasn't been proven has it? So why do we assume that it is?
So the way I am imagining it, we can't see more than 13.7 billion light years because, well the speed of light, which is FINITE, so if we look out and we see a galaxy 2 billion light years away, we are really not observing reality. That galaxy is no longer there, nor does it look like that, nor is really the distance right, because light is reaching us now from it, but it started traveling a long time ago and since then space has expanded and other things could have happened that we won't know about. And yet we accept what we see as fact and have derived modern physics from it. So I guess the issue I'm having is a more abstract one in that, I can either think of reality as what we can see, in which case there is the observable universe and that's it and that makes sense to me and I can comprehend it, but when you start bringing infinity into it, my brain can't process that.
Didn't the Big Bang create time and space? So space is constantly expanding and that's why it is infinite, BUT at any given moment in time there has to be a finite amount of it. That I can also understand. But in an infinitely big space the Big Bang doesn't make sense, it's almost like space was there before it and it just created like a gigantic mega galaxy that we call our universe.
How can someone regardless of where they are in the universe have a similar observable universe as us. That defies my understanding of distance. If there is intelligent life in a galaxy 1 billion light years away, they will see a DIFFERENT observable universe than us. Where we hit that 13.7 billion light years barrier they will be able to see 1 billion years beyond, and what will they see? Different galaxies? I mean I understand that - okay, light from those very very distant redshifted galaxies that we see, as far out as we can see, that's reaching us now after light has traveled 13.7 billion light years, BUT they weren't that distant from us when that light started traveling. The Universe 13.7 billion light years away was really young and really small (and again how can it be small if it's infinite). So it's not like the galaxy was just sitting there and light was traveling within a finite distance. That, combined with the DIFFERENT horizon you get depending on where you are, that is finite, but at the same time everything is still infinite, that just boggles my mind. It would all make perfect sense if only the Universe wasn't infinite. Which I'm not sure it is actually, and it hasn't been proven has it? So why do we assume that it is?