Unlike what we often hear in science fiction movies, the universe actually has no center. At least, that’s what scientists assert based on humanity’s current understanding of the universe.
According to “the Big Bang theory,” the universe formed through an explosion from an infinitely small point with infinite mass known as a singularity. You may have heard the term “singularity” before, especially after the discovery of Sagittarius A* – a black hole located in our Milky Way galaxy.
The center of a black hole is called a singularity. However, what we often misunderstand when visualizing the Big Bang is that it resembles an ordinary explosion, starting from a single point, like a bomb. This great explosion is different in that it triggered the expansion of the fabric of space-time, along with the entire universe. Everything expanded simultaneously, moving away from everything else at the same exponential rate.
“The observable universe” is somewhat different.
This complex concept can be best illustrated by the “balloon analogy,” first proposed by British astronomer Arthur Eddington in his 1933 book “The Expanding Universe.” To explain it simply, if you draw a series of dots on the surface of a balloon and then inflate it, those dots will move away from each other just like galaxies in the universe. Note that the galaxies do not expand; they are bound by the gravitational forces within their own galaxies.
Even Sherlock Holmes couldn’t find the center of the universe.
When looking into space through a telescope, everything seems exactly the same no matter which direction we point the telescope. According to the American Astronomical Society, the galaxies visible from Earth appear to be scattered at equal distances, indicating that there is no real direction in the universe, or even a center. This perfectly aligns with the “Cosmological Principle,” which states that the universe is both homogeneous (no special place) and isotropic (no special direction).
However, the “observable universe” is somewhat different. It is defined as the region of space we can see from Earth – our observation point. It consists of light from all cosmic objects that have been and are moving through space since the Big Bang event approximately 13.8 billion years ago.
Sound uses higher or lower wavelengths to indicate whether it is approaching or moving away (like the sound of an ambulance siren). Light operates similarly, but uses colors to convey that information. According to Forbes, longer wavelengths correspond to lower frequencies and energies, visible under red light. Shorter wavelengths correspond to higher frequencies and energies, visible under blue light. Thus, objects emitting blue light may be closer to Earth than those emitting red light.
The universe we observe is entirely based on our perspective. Observing the universe from a planet millions of light-years away would show you a vastly different observable universe than what we see today, as the entire frame of reference would change. No matter how important we may think we are, Earth is certainly not the center of the universe, because the universe has no center!
