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Old 04-22-2007, 05:16 AM
Magneto
 
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Default Light can travel through space for billions of light years,But will it travel through space forever?

or will it reach the edge where our universe ends and bounce back to the point where it started,and if so,are our powerful telescopes looking at some light that has been bouncing around for billions of light years
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Old 04-22-2007, 05:24 AM
joseamirandavelez
 
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Yup... unless something get in its way... like a plannet... :D

By the way... the light from the stars you are seeing was produced a coupple of million years ago... so is the light of the things telescopes see...
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Old 04-22-2007, 05:25 AM
Astronomer1980
 
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Current observations indicate that the universe is "open", meaning that space does not curve around back on itself. That in turn means that a beam of light *will* go on forever (or until it hits something). It will not curve or bounce back to us.
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Old 04-22-2007, 05:28 AM
Whoever
 
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You said the "edge of he universe".....Here's something to think about: what's on the other side?

As for the light...it will surely hit something.
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Old 04-22-2007, 05:29 AM
MarkY
 
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It will travel through space forever as long as it still has enough energy to do so, or there are no other objects that affect them (such as star gravity force).
So, i think that light has its own 'age'... and the 2nd think : our universe has no boundary so it can bounce back.
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Old 04-22-2007, 06:06 AM
Dan N
 
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Since there cannot be an end of the universe, as long as nothing interferes, such as something that will block it, or gravity from a sun or a black hole, light should continue in a strait line for all eternity.
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Old 04-22-2007, 10:21 AM
noneya b
 
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Light unfortunately has that quirk of behaving like a particle and like a wave. The farther light travels the more it diffuses out.
This compounded with the fact that the even greater distances it travels. its wavelength diminishes. (redshift) so eventually at 14 billion light years all visible light redshifts to the invisible low energy end of the spectrum. In the end it APPEARS the wavelength diminishing continues until the very space background radiation plays havoc with it and obliterates its original course. as for what is past that 'edge of the universe'. Your guess is as good as mine. I vote for tapioca.
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Old 04-23-2007, 05:53 AM
Anthony W
 
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Light is a particle and will travel forever unless blocked or absorbed by another force. Light does not suffer the degradation that sound waves suffer. Sound is a wave, light is a photon. If you throw a rock into a pond the waves emit from the impact where the rock hits the water. As the waves move away from the center the waves begin decreasing their intensity. Photons (light particles) do not suffer the diminished intensity.
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