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The Earth and Beyond

The Universe - The End.

There are two possible endings for the Universe.

1.  The amount of matter which exists has a large enough gravity
to slow down the expansion of the Universe,
stop it, then pull it back in on itself again.
The Universe would contract at an ever increasing rate
until all the matter collided at the tiny point which started it all.
This is the reverse of the big bang and is called the "big crunch".

2.  The amount of matter which exists
does not have a large enough amount of gravity
to slow down the expansion of the Universe enough to stop it.
In this case the Universe continues to expand
and eventually all the galaxies become so far apart
that you wouldn't know that other galaxies existed.
The whole thing would just fade out like the glowing remains of a firework.

Whether we have the big crunch or the big fade
depends on the amount of mass in the Universe.
This is difficult to estimate since a large amount of mass
may exist as dark matter (black dwarf, black hole) which can't be seen.
Current calculations suggest that the amount of mass (and therefore gravity)
may just be enough to stop the Universe expanding
but may not be enough to cause it to contract.
It might just stop still for a long long time
and the supporters of the steady-state theory may be right in the end.

Whatever happens, it is a long long way into the future,
and any anxiety about the final fate
of the Universe seems wasted at this time.

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Copyright © 2008 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.