Know how the centre of the universe changes with different perspectives
Learn how the centre of the universe changes with different perspectives.
© MinutePhysics (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
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Transcript
The universe is expanding. So does that mean there's a center from which everything is stretching outwards? I mean, it looks like the center is here, because this point didn't move when we scaled. But we could just as easily have watched the scaling from this star, or this one, and they each look like the center.
In fact, any time you scale anything up or down, there's no real center to the scaling. I mean, this square was clearly scaled up from its center. I mean, its corner-- I mean, that point over there.
The point is, sure, there may be points that stay in the same place because of your frame of reference, which is why it appears to us as if the Earth is the center of the expansion of the universe. But to someone in the Andromeda galaxy, it would appear that they were the center of the expansion.
In short, if you're too close minded to view the universe from different perspectives, it's easy to think you're at the center of the universe. Maybe that's the universe's way of making us all feel special. But really, we're not.
In fact, any time you scale anything up or down, there's no real center to the scaling. I mean, this square was clearly scaled up from its center. I mean, its corner-- I mean, that point over there.
The point is, sure, there may be points that stay in the same place because of your frame of reference, which is why it appears to us as if the Earth is the center of the expansion of the universe. But to someone in the Andromeda galaxy, it would appear that they were the center of the expansion.
In short, if you're too close minded to view the universe from different perspectives, it's easy to think you're at the center of the universe. Maybe that's the universe's way of making us all feel special. But really, we're not.
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