Are there galaxies moving so fast away from the earth we will never see them?

Question

Are there galaxies moving so fast away from the earth we will never see them?

Answer 1

Yes. Objects can not travel faster than light, space is not an object. Also it is not a true motion, but an apparent one.

Answer 2

Don't worry about Einsteinian relativity: discoveries made here can only be regarded as being accurate here. And if there are universes receding from us at beyond the speed of light (assuming that is c), we obviously cannot see them since seeing them requires their light to penetrate to us, which it obviously could not.

The speed of light as the ultimate speed can only be justified by observations we make from here. We are therefore assuming that the Physics is consistent in all places, which it may be, but is unlikely to be. The value of c may well be different elsewhere. Bear in mind that even light responds to gravitational attraction and repulsion.

Answer 3

That's the theory. Unfortunately it would be very difficult to prove by direct observation. The only way would be if a galaxy at the far edge of what we can see would disappear. Then we would know for sure. But, given the huge time scale of the universe, and that the speed increase (relative to the speed of light) is so small, the chances of that happening during the few short years that we have been observing are very small.



And, it's not that the galaxies are not moving through space faster than the speed of light, it's that space is expanding faster than the speed of light. The speed of light is the upper limit for objects moving through space, which is different from the expansion of space. It's a subtle difference, I know.

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Answer 4

Every point in the universe observes itself to be the oldest and most centralized point in the entire singularity.



The origin point of the singularity (the BB event when time started expanding) is about 46.5 billion light years away in every direction in our 13.7 billion year-old universe. This counter-intuitive observation is due to the fact that new time and space is continuously being created within the singularity everywhere at once. The origin point of the universe has receded beyond our observable horizon; and note that every other point in the universe shares this same observed perspective.



To illustrate how this can be, I have a new and "improved" balloon analogy:



Picture our singularity universe as a balloon; you are a point in the center of the balloon and the wall of the balloon represents the BB event (the start of time). When you inflate a balloon, you blow the air in at a single point; in our singularity balloon universe, the air (time and space) is being created around every point at once - our universe has inflated beyond the volume that its mere age can account for.

Answer 5

All I know is that our Milky Way Galaxy is barrelling along in space at the rate of 600,000 mph, while the Andromeda Galaxy is hurling in our direction at 300,000 mph. The Andromeda is 2,000 light years away from us. Astronomers believe our Milky Way Galaxy will either be sideswiped, will suffer a glancing blow, or will collide head on with the Andromeda in which case we'll merge into one giant elliptical galaxy over several billion years. From what I've managed to glean, it could take anywhere from 2 billion to 5 billion, even 7 billion years to complete.



I suppose we should spread human, mammalian and plant life throughout our Solar System, as God only knows what this merger will be like. We'll have to come up with tried and true methodologies for terraforming moons and planets, one at a time. We have absolutely no idea of how long it would take to grow an atmosphere on another planetesimal for example. Or how long it takes to develop a productive topsoil, magnetic fields,cloud cover, bodies of water, etc. These are pressing issues which must be dealt with. Bickering and fighting over who is going to go first is not going to save our galaxy. Eventually, we all must go to space if we are to go on as a species.



I have been advocating sending prisoners (life term, death row) to do physical labor, but they say it's too expensive. But I am adamant about this. What other choices do we have? What incentives do people have to relocate? Free land, no rules, no laws, utopia? Will that sell? A new reality TV show--Survivor Space, or Fear Factor Space with a $75K prize if they stay there for 1 year doing terraforming tasks? Getting paid to have babies on another planet?!! A government task force? A military outpost??! The Arab Space agency, AUASS??!! We need to really put all of our heads together on this one.

Answer 6

It's not known to be possible at this time, but let me ask you this: Would it matter? It's entirely plausible that there are a great many unseen celestial bodies and 'communities', and they will never be seen.



@Jetsons !?!?!? I didn't know that there were people who actually believe that keeping the species alive for multiple billions of years is possible, let alone thousands. I wouldn't want our species to continue on that long, and certainly not through the means you have described. We are Earthlings and we need to start behaving as such and treat the planet we're on, well. People say, "The grass is always greener on the other side." I have news: There's no grass anywhere else, but here.

Answer 7

Incredible how many incompetent ignorant post on subjects they understand and know nothing about.

aladdinwa is the only one one who got it right and Edwin gave a sensible answer.

Answer 8

We "believe" that nothing travels faster than light, but that conclusion could be the result of our own limits of knowledge.



After all, we once thought the Earth was flat.



Some scientists believe things can travel faster than light:



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/781199.stm

Answer 9

Actually there are speeds faster than light and these involve completely different physics that we experience on Earth. Yes, in this case, we wouldn't and probably won't see many of the galaxies in the universe. Watch some of Steven Greer's videos on aliens and their technology to get a better understanding. He has inside knowledge from people high in government and secret agencies to back his information. Some people call this guy a fraud but you watch his videos and you can be the judge. Most of his information is about evidence supporting aliens but I watched a video of his talking about aliens moving multiples the speed of light with their technology. This guy is amazing in my opinion and is totally believable, seeing all the influential people that he has to back his information.

Answer 10

Contrary to what many here seem to believe, there are galaxies WITHIN the observable univers which are receding from us at speeds faster than light. Astronomers have actually seen and catalogued about 1,000 such galaxies. Here are a couple of references:



Non-technical: "Misconceptions About the Big Bang," Scientific American, March 2005

Technical: "Superluminal Recession Velocities", http://xxx.lanl.gov/abs/astro-ph/0011070



Please note that this does NOT contradict the theory of relativity. The faster-than-light recession of these galaxies is attributed to the fact that the space between us and them is "growing" at superluminal speeds. Relativity theory does NOT impose any limit on how fast space itself can expand; only on how fast things can travel THROUGH space.



The fact that we can still see these galaxies means that at one time in the distant past, they were receding from us at slower-than-light speeds. Today we're seeing the light that they emitted at that time. The light they're emitting "today" will never reach us (unless the universe stops expanding, which doesn't seem likely).



It's very likely (though we have no proof) that there are also galaxies beyond those, which we've never seen and never will see, because space is expanding too fast for their light ever to reach us.

Answer 11

"shed light on the topid" Perfectly worded question relative to the question.....uh oh did I say relative? lol ok ill stop there



NOTHING moves faster than the speed of light, not the expansion of the universe, not how galaxies move away, not how I run. The visible universe they are talking about is how far we have ever seen, we should in fact be able to see close to the big bang, or complete background radiation. And there are 400 billion galaxies, even being visible we will never see them all, just have a slurpy and relax