|
Brian,
Here's my take on it.
In the "beginning", a singularity came into existence that had no dimensions of space nor time. After the Big Bang and a short period of rapid inflation, space, energy and time were formed. The universe is extremely large and possibly infinite in size. If infinite in size, there can be no centre.
Otherwise, the universe as we see it is not a simple three dimensional environment, whereby if you travel from A to B it is a straight line and the time taken is simply a matter of distance divided by speed. As we look in any direction, we actually look back in time. Eventually, we reach a point close to the Big Bang where no matter has yet formed, no galaxies, no stars. So we are near to the origin of the Big Bang. But this point is in every direction in the sky.
Although our observable universe is fairly flat, we cannot tell if the universe is actually like this on a much larger scale. Our time as we measure it is actually an illusion of a local environment whereby close observers appear to pass time at the same rate. Space inherently contains a dimension of time and on a larger scale time passes at a different rate due to expansion.
Eventually, all objects that are receding at close to the speed of light will seem to freeze in time at what is known as the cosmological event horizon.
In a weird sense then we actually become the centre of our observable universe.
Regards, Rob
|