If Hubble's constant is approx. 70 km/sec per megaparsec, then space is being created by that amount between objects. If the visible universe is approx 50 billion light years across, which is the smallest that the universe can be, then all the way around would be approx 50 billion light years or approx 15 billion parsecs. Applying Hubble's constant would mean that an object would have to go 70 km/sec per megaparsec times 15,000 megaparsecs, = 1,050,000 km/sec, which is about three times the speed of light just to keep up with the rate the universe is expanding--without getting any closer to the target at all. And the expansion is accelerating. Better if the sunbeam were lost in circles. Spencer Ball -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Patrick Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2010 5:38 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] useless facts Or maybe it's just that the sunbeam was male, got lost, refused to ask directions, and ended up going in circles. :) patrick On 23 Dec 2010, at 15:31 , M Wilson wrote:
It also brings up the concept that space/time is curved.
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