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Astronomy/the end?
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Hi Jesse! Thanks for being available for questions. I find astronomy so very interesting, but so very difficult at the same time.
My question is regarding the famous "end of the world". Can the world ever come to an end? I mean, if it had a beginning it should have an end too, right? I know that the universe is infinite so the universe might never come to an end... but what about the world? Am I right by saying that the universe is infinite? This is what I have read.
Thank you very much for your time!!
Anita
Glad to help.
The world will come to an end, either by man's own hand or of old age when the sun stops producing the radiation, light and heat, we need to survive. The former can happen at any time. It would only take nuclear war or chemical warfare to end all life. All life could be dead in a few years. The latter will happen in about 2.5 to 5 billion years when the sun enters a different phase, expanding as a red giant until its photosphere approaches and eventually envelops the Earth. I would say the lower end of that estimate is how long the Earth could continue to support some kind of life, unless evolution kicks in to high gear and allows life to exist near or inside(!) the sun. I will rule out a natural catastrophe for this explanation, which could also happen at any time. As for the universe, it is still argued that various scenarios can exist. The most common ones are:
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(1)Yes, it will go on forever.
(2)No, it will collapse and come to a definite end.
(3)In a way yes, that is it will collapse but re-expand in sort of a bounce.
(4)It will freeze up as the matter moves so far apart that no heat is left therefore no life.
(5)In the Multiverse theory, there would always be a universe, somewhere, sometime, and forever.
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The argument still goes on for each of these theories.
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Here is a site that has a good explanation of the time scale so far, on Earth. It also has links to other very informative sites.
http://www.krysstal.com/scale.html
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Answers by Expert:
Jesse Martinez
Expertise
General and specific questions about the solar system and stellar and galactic astronomy, are what I can easily answer off the top of my head. For example, what is the largest planet in the solar system? How far away is the moon? Have there been any confirmed planets in orbit around stars other than the sun? How many stars are there? The tougher ones like explaining the big bang theory and black holes I will leave to the PhD’s. Even though I could muster an answer, I would have to research it more than I would like. I would also like to answer questions that involve Astronomy with other sciences, chemistry, biology, physics, geology and mathematics as long as they are not PhD level.
Experience
I have been into astronomy since I was 8 years old. I have kept detailed journals of my observations through small telescopes. Over the years I have participated in amateur observation projects for organizations like ALPO. My personal research has involved "discovering" the moons of Jupiter with a 4½-inch Newtonian reflector without any outside information like charts and tables. In a summer long project, I determined the existence of and plotted the orbits of the four major moons of Jupiter. From these observations, my data on orbital elements was surprisingly accurate (orbital radius and orbital period).
Education/Credentials
80 hours of college credits while studying physics and geophysics. Completed correspondence photography course while in high school. Took two semesters of electronics training at a community college. Studied computers and graduated from a technical school at the turn of the millennium, gaining A+ and Microsoft Certified Professional credentials.
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