is there a limit to the universe and what lies beyond this limit?
349458
There currently is a "limit" to space; however, the universe is still expanding from the Big Bang, so the edge of space is constantly moving away from a central point. Beyond this, there is nothing, but unfortunately, this is almost impossible for our brains to conceive because the laws of physics that make up our known world do not exist outside the known universe.
810612
Actually the Hubble Space Telescope has an unlimited range. It can actually see ALMOST to the edge of the observable universe (..about 13.7-billion light years). For about the first 100,000 years of its existence, the universe was opaque.  Hubble can see no farther than this 100,000 year limit because there's nothing for it to see.
962950
This sort of question generates the highest percentage of false and meaningless responses of any other I know of in A&S forum. Here's the real poop. According to the BB model of the universe, the universe is expanding, but there is no boundary beyond which there is only empty space into which stars and galaxies are expanding into. This is a common misinterpretation due to a widespread inability to grasp the concept of curved space. On a large scale, every can consistently be presumed to be pretty much the same as it is in our neighborhood, although any conclusions about what lies beyond the observable universe are impossible. However, the volume of the universe may be either finite or infinite. This is simply not known. In General Relativity, finite *and* unbounded is not a contradiction.
333265
There's The Universe, then there's the observable universe. No one knows the size of the first one; it's probably infinite. The second one is the universe with a boundary; that boundary is how far we can see into The Universe, about 13.7-billion light years.
557686
Ok...we don't know how big the entire universe is. It may well be infinite, which, assuming it is homogeneous, would mean that it has infinite mass. At any rate, physicists currently think it is "much larger" than the observable universe. How much larger? I don't think that they have any evidence. But let's assume that we can see 1% of all visible space. This would make the mass of the universe = 100 * 3 * 10^52 kg, or 3 * 10^55 kg.
457925
Well there are 3 spatial dimensions and one temporal dimension, so there's 4 to begin with. On a macroscopic scale the universe behaves like a minkowski space. However on a microscopic scale even 4 dimensions isn't enough, the maths suggests possibly 11 or more dimensions.\n\nHowever I have a feeling you're not talking in the strictly mathematical sense. If you meant "are there other universes 'beyond' ours", then I have no idea. There are theories that suggest there are, but as far as I know there are no known observations that could answer that yet. We'll just have to wait and see what is discovered.
1107409
I do not believe you could ever find the 'end' through the knowledge we have today.  This would require us to exceed the speed of light, obtain infinite energy, warp space as a blackhole does, etc.  I do believe there are infinite universes.  Our universe exists as a 'point in infinitely dimensional space.  \n\nOur universe was created from the chaos of the lawlessness of nothingness, we could have been 10 billion times larger in mass or the size or total mass of an atom.  We may be able to difine how much mass the universe has, but possibly never the size.\n\nIt would be like defining the size of a dimensionless point.
53803
According to modern physics, yes. Any infinite universe would actually contain an infinite amount of data, and thus would be aware of its own existence as well.If, however, you define universe as 'infinite' or 'everything' then no.
800785
Ah yes, people like to give mumbo jumbo bullshiet answers to this question to confuse you further.\n\nThe thing is, we really have no idea. This is half the reason the answer is so confusing.\n\nScientists, like myself, have defined the universe as everything and like to say it isn't expanding into anything because, quite frankly, they don't know what's going on and it's easier to just define the universe as that for the time being. I don't know, neither does anyone else.\n\nFrom recent science, we know that the universe is absolutely finite, therefore it's size is increasing; it is getting larger. This can also be seen by looking at microwave radiation maps of the universe.\n\nSo then, what is it expanding into? Well, if ANYONE could answer this question, they would probably go down in history as greater than even people like Einstein, Newton, Galileo...but the reality is, we don't know. All answers to this question are purely spectical and usually formed to fit a belief system that has been adapted from that person.\n\n\nPersonally, it's probably expanding into more space, which probably contains an indefinite number of universes and extends infinitely.\n\nBut that is only my personal view. Just like all other views.
1059228
If the universe is everything, then what is it expanding into?\n\nBefore we can address that question, we must first define universe.  \n\nThe word universe denotes all space and everything (matter, energy) contained within it.  The prefix uni means one.  The root verse means word, carnate message, meaningful substance, matter.  Questions regarding our universe persist today.  Does it have a beginning and end, or does it go on forever and ever?  Is it linear or curved?  If it has limits of length or curvature, then what lies beyond the Universe?  If something lies beyond the Universe, then can’t we accurately call that the Universe?\n\nSome lay people and some scientists conceive of the universe as infinite space.  Others define the universe as finite, or limited (perhaps curved), space.  Still others incorporate the elements of matter and/or energy into their definition of the universe, as opposed to the space beyond matter and energy.\n\nGiven these concepts of our universe, some scientists conclude that the “totality of space could be infinite. Shrink an infinite space by an arbitrary amount, and it is still infinite. (Scientific American March 2005).”  \n\nAs to the notion that we live in an ever expanding universe, moving away from every other universe on the fabric of space-time, some scientists are careful to point out that “\n\nAndromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbor, is actually moving toward us, not away. Such exceptions arise because Hubble's law describes only the average behavior of galaxies (Scientific American March 2005).”\n\nIn accordance with your supposition that our universe is in another universe, “it has been hypothesized by some scientists that the universe may be part of a system of many other universes, known as the multiverse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universe).” Modern astrophysicists talk about multiple "pocket" universes that branch off from one another.  Stephen Hawking points out that parallel pocket universes can have no effect on a real observer inside a single pocket, so, according to Hawking, they are theoretical baggage that should be eliminated from cosmology, the study of the origins of the universe.\n\nSome string theories define the universe as a three-dimensional space in an invisible space having more dimensions. This is, in essence, a universe within a universe.  Our zone, a “braneworld” could periodically bounce into another parallel braneworld.  This may create what would appear as a Big Bang from one perspective or a Big Bounce of alternating expanding and contracting universe from another perspective.  Such a cataclysmic event is thought to occur 300 billion years from now, resulting in the rearranging and creation of a new universe.\n\nIf the universe is everything, then what is it expanding into?  It seems that our universe is all matter, space, and energy that we can perceive in this closed system.  However, that does not mean that there is not additional matter, space, and energy outside our universe.  In other words, there are probably other universes.  Therefore, the zone that we call our universe (or braneworld) may be moving through or expanding into other universes (or braneworlds).  In sum, all universes may be moving through a multiverse.\n \nSteve\n:-D
615823
The Universe is thought to be 'finite but bounded'. That is, it does not come to an end anywhere but somehow loops around again far, far away. Another example of a finite but bounded shape is the surface of a bubble, a sphere. It has definite area and size but there are no edges to its surface, no place to call a "beginning" or "end" that is not arbitrary.
784741
The universe may be infinite in size, or it may be of only finite size. Doesn't the universe have to be infinite? It doesn't make any sense that it would be finite, then there would be some end or edge, and what would be beyond that?\n\nStrange as it may seem, the universe could be finite, a finite universe would not have to have any edges or an end, it could 'wraparound'. The universe could be curved. Huh? How could you curve the universe?\n\nAn analogy should help, consider the surface of the Earth. It looks flat and many children and ancient people might assume that it is flat and that it is either infinite or must have an end or edge somewhere.\n\nBut the Earth's surface is curved, it wraps around and closes in on itself. There is only a finite amount of area yet there is no ends or edges. The two-dimensional flat surface of the Earth is wrapped around into a sphere when viewed in three dimensions. If you set out flying westward in a plane, you will wraparound and eventually return to where you started, approaching from the east.\n\nThe universe may be a curved three-dimensional space that wraps around and closes on itself. If you set out in a spacecraft heading one direction, you could eventually return to the same spot from the opposite direction.\n\n \n\nA nice demonstration of the scale of the universe is to start with a view showing our galaxy and then zoom by a factor of ten once per second. Such a demonstration is done at http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/ \n\nClick on this link and view the demo. Use your browser's Back button to return to this page after watching the demo.\n\n\nThe entire universe, or just the visible portion of the universe if its infinite, is roughly 27 billion light-years across. That's 159,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles. Our solar system, from the Sun to Pluto, is .00063 light-years across or 3,720,000,000 miles. That makes our solar system 42,700,000,000,000 times smaller than the whole universe.\n\nCan we put that into a more meaningful perspective? If the entire Earth's surface represents the whole universe, the solar system on that scale would be one-millionth of a meter wide, about 1/25,000 of an inch, the size of a single, small bacteria.
722611
the universe is constantly expanding although the rate is slowing and never reaches zero.\nexperts believe that the universe is finite yet has no edge, just like the surface area of a sphere. this could imply that if u reached one 'end' of the universe, u would end up on the opposite side or something like that
1035265
Which is the end of expanding universe? If any end exists, what will be behind this end?\n\nBefore we can address that question, we must first define universe.  \n\nThe word universe denotes all space and everything (matter, energy) contained within it.  The prefix uni means one.  The root verse means word, carnate message, meaningful substance, matter.  Questions regarding our universe persist today.  Does it have a beginning and end, or does it go on forever and ever?  Is it linear or curved?  If it has limits of length or curvature, then what lies beyond the Universe?  If something lies beyond the Universe, then can’t we accurately call that the Universe?\n\nSome lay people and some scientists conceive of the universe as infinite space.  Others define the universe as finite, or limited (perhaps curved), space.  Still others incorporate the elements of matter and/or energy into their definition of the universe, as opposed to the space beyond matter and energy.\n\nGiven these concepts of our universe, some scientists conclude that the “totality of space could be infinite. Shrink an infinite space by an arbitrary amount, and it is still infinite. (Scientific American March 2005).”  \n\nAs to the notion that we live in an ever expanding universe, moving away from every other universe on the fabric of space-time, some scientists are careful to point out that “\n\nAndromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbor, is actually moving toward us, not away. Such exceptions arise because Hubble's law describes only the average behavior of galaxies (Scientific American March 2005).”\n\nIn accordance with your supposition that our universe is in another universe, “it has been hypothesized by some scientists that the universe may be part of a system of many other universes, known as the multiverse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universe).” Modern astrophysicists talk about multiple "pocket" universes that branch off from one another.  Stephen Hawking points out that parallel pocket universes can have no effect on a real observer inside a single pocket, so, according to Hawking, they are theoretical baggage that should be eliminated from cosmology, the study of the origins of the universe.\n\nSome string theories define the universe as a three-dimensional space in an invisible space having more dimensions. This is, in essence, a universe within a universe.  Our zone, a “braneworld” could periodically bounce into another parallel braneworld.  \n\nThis may create what would appear as a Big Bang from one perspective or a Big Bounce of alternating expanding and contracting universe from another perspective.  Such a cataclysmic event is thought to occur 300 billion years from now, resulting in the rearranging and creation of a new universe.\n\nWhich is the end of expanding universe? That may be determined in 300 billion years, when it stops expanding (like a balloon).  If any end exists, what will be behind this end?  A multiverse void containing other expanding and contracting balloons, referred to as universes, may exist beyond our own.\n\nSteve\n:-D
641539
there is no dimension to the universe, its infinite. the horizon never ends either it keeps moving with you. its around 25 miles away depending on where you are. Its as far as you can see because of the curvature of the earth.
334137
the universe is finite yet has no boundaries. it may be something like the two dimensional surface of a sphere.  nothing inside or outside the sphere exists for the two dimensional surface.  nothing exists outside the universe in this model.
90108
I don't believe so.  If there is any merit to the Big Bang theory (and there's lots of scientific evidence in support of it), then the universe has a radius of currently about 14 billion light-years, and is expanding.  \n\nThat's pretty big, but it's not infinite.