<p>There is no point of origin! It is a misconception that the universe started as a single point <em>within space</em>. Indeed, measurements since the 1990s seem to show that the universe is infinite in size, which means that the very early universe must have also been infinite.</p>

<p>It has not really been established that the universe originated from a "singularity" at all. We know that in the early universe everything was much closer together, and hence the universe was much denser. The "Big Bang Theory" goes back to the universe being extremely dense, but it is not required that the universe started from a single point.</p>

<p>Really, the Big Bang happened <em>everywhere</em>. Even at these early times it looks like it was infinite in size with basically constant density, and so there's no sensible way for it to have a centre.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-28T16:24:03.220Z
I think we can argue that if we want to trace back the path of all the objects, we can't do it when we are also moving away. We need to be in an absolute reference frame which we know doesn't exist.
Yashbhatt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-28T16:06:45.267Z
2014-07-28T16:06:45.267Z
Astrokiwi
<p>I find this baffling. If we can observe objects moving away from us and each other, than it stands to reason that we can track their paths (relative to each other and ourselves) backward to find a point of origin. <a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/669/what-is-in-the-center-of-the-universe">In this question</a> answers given suggest that there is no center of the universe. I'm looking for clarification as to why we cannot reverse engineer (to some degree) where this point of origin exists, even if a simple general direction relative to us. I understand that paths may be distorted and skewed by forces as time goes on, but I still don't grasp the concept that we have no way to determine a point of origin or general sense thereof. Help wrapping my inferior brain around this is much appreciated.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-11T03:02:40.300Z
i am not expert, but we clearly know that universe is expanding continuously, so how can we determine the center? Also, as per my knowledge our observable universe is very small in comparison to the grand scale of the universe. I don't think any center point is their for universe, even if it is their, how can we determine it?
user3278897
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-28T16:18:34.830Z
You should watch [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3MWRvLndzs) video to clear some of the misconceptions about the so called Big Bang.
Yashbhatt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-29T13:17:00.073Z
I don't feel this should be marked as duplicate. I referenced the question that is the 'duplicate' because although it fell along the same lines, it did not answer my question which was for a deeper clarification of the topic. I humbly ask this to be reconsidered.
MegaMark
<observational-astronomy><space><big-bang-theory><movement>
Why can't we determine the center of the universe
MegaMark
# Why can't we determine the center of the universe

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-07-28)

I find this baffling. If we can observe objects moving away from us and each other, than it stands to reason that we can track their paths (relative to each other and ourselves) backward to find a point of origin. [In this question](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/669/what-is-in-the-center-of-the-universe) answers given suggest that there is no center of the universe. I'm looking for clarification as to why we cannot reverse engineer (to some degree) where this point of origin exists, even if a simple general direction relative to us. I understand that paths may be distorted and skewed by forces as time goes on, but I still don't grasp the concept that we have no way to determine a point of origin or general sense thereof. Help wrapping my inferior brain around this is much appreciated.

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, space, big-bang-theory, movement

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: You should watch [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3MWRvLndzs) video to clear some of the misconceptions about the so called Big Bang.  
> **username_0**: I don't feel this should be marked as duplicate. I referenced the question that is the 'duplicate' because although it fell along the same lines, it did not answer my question which was for a deeper clarification of the topic. I humbly ask this to be reconsidered.  
> **username_1**: i am not expert, but we clearly know that universe is expanding continuously, so how can we determine the center? Also, as per my knowledge our observable universe is very small in comparison to the grand scale of the universe. I don't think any center point is their for universe, even if it is their, how can we determine it?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-07-28. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

There is no point of origin! It is a misconception that the universe started as a single point *within space*. Indeed, measurements since the 1990s seem to show that the universe is infinite in size, which means that the very early universe must have also been infinite.

It has not really been established that the universe originated from a "singularity" at all. We know that in the early universe everything was much closer together, and hence the universe was much denser. The "Big Bang Theory" goes back to the universe being extremely dense, but it is not required that the universe started from a single point.

Really, the Big Bang happened *everywhere*. Even at these early times it looks like it was infinite in size with basically constant density, and so there's no sensible way for it to have a centre.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I think we can argue that if we want to trace back the path of all the objects, we can't do it when we are also moving away. We need to be in an absolute reference frame which we know doesn't exist.  

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