Is the universe infinite?

Nina: Nana, I have a science question for you today.

Nana: Those are the only questions you have. What is it today?

Nina: What is the end of the universe?

Nana: Ah, that’s easy. The universe is infinite. Didn’t they teach it in your never ending science classes?

Nina: Yes, they do teach it in my physics classes and no, it’s not easy. Your answer is completely wrong.

Nana: Wrong how?

Nina: Haven’t you heard of the quote : “Everything that has a beginning has an end”? We all know the universe as we know it began 13.8 billion years ago in big bang. In fact, we discussed it in length before.

Nana: Pfffff. Sure, in one of our never ending conversations. Who can keep track of them? What are you trying to say now? Just spit it out.

Nina: We are limited by the edge of our observable universe, that’s why I am saying you are wrong about the universe being infinite. Our knowledge only dates back upto 13.8 billion years ago which is when big bang happened but please remember that the universe is still expanding. Which means the star which emitted the light which we see from 13+ billion years ago is now 46 billion light years away.

Nana: I am getting a headache. Does that mean the universe is finite?

Nina: No, I am saying the scientists are yet to figure that out. There was a NASA project earlier that tried to understand whether the universe was curved like a ball or flat like a paper. If the universe had been curved, the scientists were sure they could find out its size based on curvature. But they have concluded that its flat.

Which brings us to the fact that we still don’t know if the universe has an edge or is really infinite. All we know is that the view of the universe changes based on your location which means we are limited by our location inside the milky way galaxy.

This post is a part of the #NinaAndNana series I co-host with Kanika G.