Super-Giant Black Hole Baffles Scientists

[CowboyMcCoy]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

Something many people don't realize is that empty space is actually not empty at all. There is energy there. All mass is energy and all empty space in our universe has energy. It is that energy that creates the three perceived dimensions. (and possibly many more!)

Now you ask, what is the universe expanding into? It is expanding into literally nothing. Energy is spreading out into a dimensionless void. It's not a universe, it's not space, it is nothing. It's hard to visualize it since you perceive space as being empty when it actually isn't. You are perceiving it's three dimensions! Something the void does not have.

The void is merely speculation. Like trick said, we know so little about the universe. With that being said, you're right about space not being empty. This is why we still hang on to hope of a hydrogen powered space craft. For each cubic foot of space, we can typically find one hydrogen atom. That's pretty amazing. So space is definitely not a vacuum. That's a common misconception.

[dexternjack]

Originally Posted by joseephuss

The two things are intertwined.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreduc..._Universe.html

Well, you can stop wasting your time on me. I had a brainfart and wasn't looking at it from another perspective. I was failing to realize that is how astronomers measure distance, by seeing how long it takes light to travel.

I blame the two bottles of win last night

[CowboyMcCoy]

Originally Posted by dexternjack

Well, you can stop wasting your time on me. I had a brainfart and wasn't looking at it from another perspective. I was failing to realize that is how astronomers measure distance, by seeing how long it takes light to travel.

I blame the two bottles of win last night

I was going to say it didn't seem you had a grasp of what a light year was.

[Sam I Am]

Originally Posted by CowboyMcCoy

The void is merely speculation.

Not speculation. I've been there and actually visit often. It's where I go when I'm not here!

[CowboyMcCoy]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

Not speculation. I've been there and actually visit often. It's where I go when I'm not here!

I agree it's a good theory. But it hasn't been proven. I had a great astronomy professor, Donald Winget. That guy is one bright dude and probably one of my favorite professors ever. He always said this is what we believe now, but it can always change. And there is plenty of disagreeing amongst the most renown experts in the field about many things.

[justbob]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

Not speculation. I've been there and actually visit often. It's where I go when I'm not here!

Not to sure it doesn't exist here. Some of the threads have a pretty big void in them.

[Cajuncowboy]

Wrong thread. LOL

[BlindFaith]

Originally Posted by dexternjack

Most scientists agree that the universe is ever expanding, so that would, in fact, mean that the universe is expanding into something. In short, a lot think the universe is finite at any point in time but will never stay finite, if that makes sense.

So the universe to you is simply the "things" in it. Dark matter makes up 97 percent of the universe yet it isn't really a thing at all.

Even if you believe in a single big bang, then the emptiness that was there before the big bang is still infinite and is still something I would consider the universe.

[jobberone]

Dark matter makes up about 84% of the matter in the universe and about 23% of its mass-energy. Normal baryonic matter makes up less than 5% of the matter in the universe. Dark energy accounts for the remaining mass-energy which is about 72%. Whatever the heck dark energy is.

Particles are being created continuously in space-time and quickly annihilate one another. So the 'void' of space is seething with short lived particles.

And yes we have much to learn.

[joseephuss]

Originally Posted by BlindFaith

So the universe to you is simply the "things" in it. Dark matter makes up 97 percent of the universe yet it isn't really a thing at all.

Even if you believe in a single big bang, then the emptiness that was there before the big bang is still infinite and is still something I would consider the universe.

I don't. I consider our universe as all the stuff(and non-stuff such as dark matter) that started with our big bang. All of that(our universe) exists within that vast emptiness you described. There may also be other universes out there also within that vast emptiness that don't interact or cross our universe.
That probably needs a new term. Maybe that term exists and I just don't know what it is, but that is the way I see it.

[dexternjack]

Originally Posted by BlindFaith

So the universe to you is simply the "things" in it. Dark matter makes up 97 percent of the universe yet it isn't really a thing at all.

Even if you believe in a single big bang, then the emptiness that was there before the big bang is still infinite and is still something I would consider the universe.

How did you decipher what you did from reading my post? I never mentioned anything about dark matter or what 'things' I consider to be in it. I just stated my opinion on the size of the universe and that it is ever-expanding. I never said whatever our universe is expanding into is or is not considered another part of the universe.

[Sam I Am]

Originally Posted by BlindFaith

Even if you believe in a single big bang, then the emptiness that was there before the big bang is still infinite and is still something I would consider the universe.

When we say void we don't exactly mean empty. We mean literally *nothing*.

The Universe consist of dimensions and energy. It's that energy that is creating the dimensions and alas the Universe. There is no physical location it's expanding into because it takes the energy to create the dimensions of "space". Whatever exists (if anything exists) on the outside of our Universe has no "location" (x, y, z) because it has no dimensions and therefore cannot be empty because there is no location for it to actually hold anything.