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chomponthebit t1_j24q5am wrote

Not cheating by using Wikipedia, but here goes:

The “Universe” comprises everything that exists. You, me, the cat, your mom, planet earth, the sun, the moon, the stars in the sky, the galaxies, and even everything else that exists that we can’t see.

The “Observable Universe” extends only within our light cone: that is, everything our most powerful telescopes can see, including more advanced telescopes humans will develop in the future. Because light takes time to travel to us, and because space itself is expanding, there are undoubtedly galaxies beyond what we can currently see that we will never see. In fact, the farthest galaxies we can see at the moment will eventually wink out as the (relative) rate of expanding space outruns the speed of light. Those galaxies will cease to exist within the Observable Universe while they continue to exist in the Universe.

I’ll let someone with more wrinkles on their brain dumb down theories spacetime and dark matter and 2D holographic space.

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space-ModTeam t1_j24rzr5 wrote

Hello u/8005T34, your submission "A simple question with many possible responses; curious to hear as many as I can." has been removed from r/space because:

  • Such questions should be asked in the "All space questions" thread stickied at the top of the sub.

Please read the rules in the sidebar and check r/space for duplicate submissions before posting. If you have any questions about this removal please message the r/space moderators. Thank you.

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YesWeHaveNoTomatoes t1_j24sjje wrote

>What is its function?

Like a housecat, it doesn't have one. It's just here. What are you here for? There is no single answer to that question. You are free to choose the one you think is best.

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