Galaxies and the Universe

The definition of infinity

The universe is the totality of everything that exists in the Cosmos. It is infinite in space because no one can denote its limits. It is eternal in time because it preceded the Big Bang, and after its cooling everything will still happen and exist. Fundamental sciences study individual components of the universe: chemistry explores the molecular world, physics - elementary particles and atoms, biology is responsible for studying the phenomena of living nature. The structure of the universe as a whole is studied by cosmology, based on the theory of astronomy.

Models of the Universe

The rapid development of cybernetics in various scientific studies has brought great popularity to the theory of modeling. The essence of this theory lies in the study of the model corresponding to the original of the real object. The creation of models of individual phenomena contributes to in-depth study of the surrounding world. For a long time, astronomers have been actively studying the structure of the universe as homogeneous and imaginary (isotropic).

A. Einstein proposed a cylindrical model in which certain local curvatures of time and space lead to a global warping of the universe. In this model, the time coordinate is not curved, that is, the time is uniformly moving from past to future. Further this model was improved by the astrophysicist Willem de Setter, who suggested that against the background of the red shift, time in different parts of the universe flows in different ways.

Today, the most popular model of the expanding universe, proposed by Friedman. In this concept, the structure of the universe has global curvature due to constantly gravitating masses. In the scientific world, two modifications of the expanding model are being discussed:

- a closed model implies a gradual slowing of expansion as a result of gravitational inhibition;

The open model assumes a slowing expansion for an infinitely long time.

Any model of the universe is just a copy of the real object and therefore the results of its studies are purely theoretical, they require practical confirmation.

Galaxies in the Universe

Today, Earth scientists observe only one universe, but this is not the basis for asserting that it is the only one. The structure and evolution of the universe is a global task for cosmological research. All of its stars and celestial bodies are united in huge star systems, called galaxies. Each galaxy has a central core, spiral arms around it, in which more stars are placed, and periphery in the form of a cloud consisting of rare stars. Stars are born, live, moving in space, and die. In our Galaxy, the central star is the Sun, heavenly bodies, like it, live from 10 to 15 billion years. Now the Sun is in middle age.

The galaxy in which we live is called the Milky Way because its plane with the maximum number of stars, dust and gas is visible in the night sky as a foggy glow. The strip of this glow encircles the entire sky with a wide ring. The Milky Way is by no means the only galaxy that makes up the structure of the universe. There is a huge number of galaxies with an infinite number of stars. For example, the Andromeda Nebula and the Magellanic clouds, located on an unimaginable distance from us.

Structure of matter distribution

The structure of the universe is a cluster of flat galactic sheets separated by regions in which there is practically no luminous matter. These voids are about 100 megaparsec. The first observed sheet is the Great Wall, located at a distance of 200 million light-years. The Great Wall is a group of galaxies that has a thickness of 15 million light years. Years and sizes - 500 million. years.

In the structure of the Universe, the position of the Earth has the following characteristics: the solar planetary system, the local cluster of clusters and superclusters of galaxies, the arm of Orion, and the galaxy the Milky Way.