The universe may be vast, but researchers have multiple points of evidence that reveal its shape.
The universe may seem shapeless because it is so vast, but it does have a form that astronomers can observe. So, what is it shaped like?
David Spergel , a theoretical astrophysicist and emeritus professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, has probed the shape of the universe for decades. In a 2003 study published in The Astrophysical Journal , Spergel measured irregularities in the cosmic microwave background , light left over from the Big Bang, that were observed by NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and later by the European Space Agency's Planck spacecraft.
"We can measure the curvature with some uncertainty, so we can say that the curvature is zero with some uncertainty," Spergel said."While we can lower the uncertainty, we only at best constrain the geometry." Evidence for the flatness of the universe also shows up in what's known as the critical density. At the critical density, a hypothetical universe would be flat and would eventually stop expanding, but only after an infinite time, according to the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. If a hypothetical universe were denser than this, it would be curved like a sphere and eventually collapse in on itself due to its gravity — a proposed phenomenon known as the"Big Crunch.
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