<p>The edge of the Universe in space-time can only be the moment of its creation (or end if the Universe is closed). What it would be like at that time depends on what you would consider close to the edge. Your question is about the edge of the expansion so I will presume that you mean during the Inflationary era (until about $10^{-32}\textrm{s}$ after the creation of the Universe).</p>

<p>There would be no objects as matter as we know it today did not exist (according to the big bang model). The major interacting forces (gravity, strong and weak nuclear force, and the electromagnetic force) were unified at the time of the Inflationary era. There would be no protons or neutrons as the strong interaction has not decoupled yet from the other forces. The temperature would be extremely high $&gt;10^{27}\textrm{K}$.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-03T15:07:48.743Z
2014-10-03T15:07:48.743Z
Dieudonné
<p>The major cosmological models of the universe say that the universe as no edge. The universe is either infinite (if you travel in one direction you would keep going forever) or it backs up on itself (if you travel in one direction you end up where you started, kind of like in pacman). With this picture in mind there is no edge where there stuff being added to the universe. The expansion is happening everywhere in the universe. If you want to know how it looks like, just look around!
Objects would not be appearing and disappearing as the expansion of the universe involve only space and not matter.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-03T14:33:52.047Z
2014-10-03T14:33:52.047Z
MelanzanaRipiena
<p>It's simple - there is no edge to the universe. It is thought that the universe is infinite in size. Data from WMAP seems to support this, because it shows that the universe is very close to "flat" - i.e. the overall curvature is zero. This does support the "infinite universe" models.</p>

<p>That said, there <em>is</em> an edge to our (or any other observer's) <em>observable</em> universe. This consists of all the objects we can see - or, rather, all the objects whose emitted light, gravity, or other effects we can detect. There isn't anything special going on at the edge of our observable universe, either, for those observers there. Nothing special happens for them, although any observer's observable universe is expanding.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-03T15:00:55.873Z
2014-10-03T15:00:55.873Z
HDE 226868
<p>If the universe is expanding, then if you were to be close to the edge of that expansion, what would it look like? What would be happening? Would it be chaotic? Would objects be appearing or disappearing? I don't even know if it's possible to have any knowledge of this, but I'd like to know if there are any theories.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-28T16:50:55.560Z
FYI, I already read the "Does the universe have an edge" question, but it does not answer this question I asked. I asked a question just beyond that one, so it is not a duplicate. Thank you to @Dieudonné for answering the question I asked.
JohnMoAstro
<universe>
What is it like at the edge of the universe?
JohnMoAstro
# What is it like at the edge of the universe?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-10-03)

If the universe is expanding, then if you were to be close to the edge of that expansion, what would it look like? What would be happening? Would it be chaotic? Would objects be appearing or disappearing? I don't even know if it's possible to have any knowledge of this, but I'd like to know if there are any theories.

**Tags:** universe

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: FYI, I already read the "Does the universe have an edge" question, but it does not answer this question I asked. I asked a question just beyond that one, so it is not a duplicate. Thank you to @username_1 for answering the question I asked.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-10-03. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The edge of the Universe in space-time can only be the moment of its creation (or end if the Universe is closed). What it would be like at that time depends on what you would consider close to the edge. Your question is about the edge of the expansion so I will presume that you mean during the Inflationary era (until about $10^{-32}\textrm{s}$ after the creation of the Universe).

There would be no objects as matter as we know it today did not exist (according to the big bang model). The major interacting forces (gravity, strong and weak nuclear force, and the electromagnetic force) were unified at the time of the Inflationary era. There would be no protons or neutrons as the strong interaction has not decoupled yet from the other forces. The temperature would be extremely high $>10^{27}\textrm{K}$.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2014-10-03. Score: 0

The major cosmological models of the universe say that the universe as no edge. The universe is either infinite (if you travel in one direction you would keep going forever) or it backs up on itself (if you travel in one direction you end up where you started, kind of like in pacman). With this picture in mind there is no edge where there stuff being added to the universe. The expansion is happening everywhere in the universe. If you want to know how it looks like, just look around!
Objects would not be appearing and disappearing as the expansion of the universe involve only space and not matter.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2014-10-03. Score: 0

It's simple - there is no edge to the universe. It is thought that the universe is infinite in size. Data from WMAP seems to support this, because it shows that the universe is very close to "flat" - i.e. the overall curvature is zero. This does support the "infinite universe" models.

That said, there *is* an edge to our (or any other observer's) *observable* universe. This consists of all the objects we can see - or, rather, all the objects whose emitted light, gravity, or other effects we can detect. There isn't anything special going on at the edge of our observable universe, either, for those observers there. Nothing special happens for them, although any observer's observable universe is expanding.


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