Is it getting bigger, and if so, why?

是否越來越大，如果是，為什麼？

Well, we know that there are two different meanings for "universe" - first, the

好了，我們知道，"宇宙"有兩種不同的含義--第一，是"宇宙"。

"observable universe" is everything that we've been

宇宙是我們一直以來的一切。

able to see, or observe, thus far. And second,

能夠看到，或觀察到的，是以。而第二。

"The Universe" (or "the whole universe") means

"宇宙"（或"整個宇宙"）是指

everything that exists or has existed, or will exist.

一切存在的或已經存在的或將要存在的東西。

More specifically, the observable universe

更具體地說，可觀測的宇宙

is the region of space visible to us from earth. And since The Universe is only about

是我們從地球上看到的空間區域。由於宇宙只有大約

13.8 billion years old and light takes time to travel through space, then regardless of

138億歲，光在太空中傳播需要時間，那麼不管是

what direction we look, we see light that's been traveling (at most) 13.8 billion years.

我們看什麼方向，我們看到的光，'已經行駛（最多）138億年。

So it's logical to think that the observable universe must then be 2*13.77 = 27.5 billion

所以合乎邏輯地認為，可觀測到的宇宙那麼一定是2*13.77=275億的

light years across - but it's not. That's because over time, space has been expanding,

光年跨度--但它'不是。那是因為隨著時間的推移，空間一直在擴張。

so the distant objects that gave off that light 13.8 billion years ago have since moved

所以138億年前發出那道光的遠古天體已經移動了

even farther away from us. Today, those distant objects are a bit more than 46 billion light

離我們更遠的地方今天，這些遙遠的天體比460億光年多一點

years away. Multiply times two and you get 93 billion light years: the diameter of the

年的距離。乘以2，你得到930億光年：直徑為1.

observable universe.

可觀測的宇宙。

To give you a sense of scale, the size of the earth within the observable universe is

為了給你一個尺度感，地球在可觀察的宇宙中的大小為

roughly equivalent to the size of a virus within the solar system - although that doesn't

大致相當於太陽系內病毒的大小--雖然這並不'。

help much because we can't really appreciate the incomprehensible smallness of a virus

因為我們無法真正體會到病毒難以理解的渺小。

nor the bewildering bigness of the solar system, either.

也沒有太陽系的茫茫大度，。

\ So let's just say that the observable universe

\ 所以我們可以說，可觀測到的宇宙... ...

is stupendously big. But The Whole Universe, as far as we can tell, is a lot bigger - space

是驚人的大。但整個宇宙，就我們所知，要大得多--空間... ...

is most likely infinite! Or at least it doesn't have an edge, though the difference between

很可能是無限的!或者說至少它沒有優勢，雖然這兩者之間的區別是

those is another story unto itself.

這些是另一個故事本身。

Now, what about the center of the universe? Well the

現在，宇宙的中心呢？那麼

observable universe

可觀測宇宙

has a center - Us! We're at the center of

有一箇中心--我們我們的中心是

the observable universe because the observable universe is just the region of space visible

可觀測宇宙

from earth, and kind of like how the view from a very tall tower is a circle centered

從地球上看，有點像從很高的大廈上看，是一個圓心的圓圈

on the tower, the piece of space we can see from here is naturally centered here. In fact,

在塔上，我們能從這裡看到的那片空間自然是以這裡為中心。其實。

if you want to be more precise, EACH ONE OF US is the center of our OWN observable universe.

如果你想更精確的話，我們每個人都是我們自己的可觀測宇宙的中心。

But that doesn't mean we're at the center

但這並不意味著我們'在中心

of The Whole Universe, just like the tower isn't the center of the world - it's the center

就像塔不是世界的中心一樣，它是世界的中心。

of the piece of the world that it can see - up to the horizon. But just because you

它能看到的那片世界--直到地平線。但就因為你

can't see beyond the horizon doesn't mean there's nothing there.\

不能看到地平線以外的地方並不意味著那裡什麼都沒有。

And so it is with the observable universe.

可觀測的宇宙也是如此。

Looking up at the sky, we see light light that's at most 13.8 billion years old and

仰望天空，我們看到的是最多138億年前的光亮，而

coming from stuff that's now 46 billion light years away. Anything farther is "beyond the

來自於現在460億光年外的東西。任何更遠的東西是"超越了。

horizon". But each second, we see new, even older light

地平線"。但每一秒鐘，我們都會看到新的，甚至是更古老的光線

coming from slightly farther away (one light-second

遙遙無期

farther, to be precise), and so our view of the cosmos is literally getting bigger all

準確地說，是更遠的地方），所以我們對宇宙的看法從字面上看是越來越大了

the time - all we have to do is wait and watch as the universe ages and light from more distant

我們所要做的就是等待和觀察宇宙的老化和來自更遙遠的光。

places has the time to get to us.

地方有時間去找我們。

So here we are, sitting at the center of our observable piece of the Whole Universe.

所以我們在這裡，坐在我們可觀察的整個宇宙的中心。

How big is the universe? Well, the observable

宇宙有多大？嗯，可觀察到的

universe is currently 93 billion light years across. The Whole Universe is

宇宙目前直徑為930億光年。整個宇宙是

probably infinite.

可能是無限的。

Does the universe have an edge? The observable does (it's 46 billion light years away in

宇宙有優勢嗎？可觀測到的有（它在460億光年外的地方，在

any direction), and The Whole Universe has a temporal edge (or what we call a beginning)

任何方向），而整個宇宙有一個時間的邊緣（或我們稱之為開始）。

but almost certainly not a spatial one. Does the universe have a center? Again, the

但幾乎可以肯定不是一個空間的。宇宙有中心嗎？同樣，

observable universe does: YOU! The Universe as a whole? Almost certainly not.

可觀測的宇宙確實如此。你！ - 宇宙作為一個整體？宇宙作為一個整體？幾乎肯定不是。

And is the universe getting bigger? Yes - space is expanding, which makes both the observable

宇宙是否在變大呢？是的--空間在膨脹，這使得可觀測到的東西都在膨脹

universe and the whole universe bigger - plus, over time, we see older and older light coming

宇宙和整個宇宙更大的 - 另外，隨著時間的推移，我們看到越來越老的光來了

from farther and farther away, so our observable universe gets bigger that way, too.

從更遠的地方來，所以我們的可觀測宇宙也會這樣變大。

And that, in a nutshell, is our view from

簡而言之，這就是我們的觀點。

the tower. You are the center of the universe. And so am I. And so is everyone else. And

塔。你是宇宙的中心，我也是我也是，其他人也是。還有

so is no one.

所以是沒有人。