How do we know where the edge of the Universe is?

Question: How do we know where the edge of the Universe is?
- Keywords:
  begin,
  edge,
  end,
  start,
  universe
Asked by lwebb to Adam, Geoff, Rob, Sheila, Suzie on 16 Mar 2011 in Categories: Space.
- Sheila Kanani answered on 15 Mar 2011:
  
  I don’t think there is an ‘edge’ to the universe…..so we can’t know where it is!
- Adam Tuff answered on 15 Mar 2011:
  
  You could even ask the question…is there an edge of the universe? Space-time, the dimensions in which we exist, don’t have to be flat according to Einstein, so they could even be curved in on itself (imagine the universe being layed out on the surface of a sphere). We can look deep into space and see what’s called the “cosmic microwave background – the radiation left over from the big bang – we can’t see beyond it, nor will we probably ever be able to…so I don’t think we can see the edges even if they existed! A great question!
- Suzie Sheehy answered on 15 Mar 2011:
  
  I don’t think we really can tell… we can just observe objects which are further and further away from us. It would be nice of there were an obvious point where the end of the Universe is, but sadly it’s not obvious!
  If you like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (which I strongly recommend!) then the answer is slightly different: it’s where the restaurant and the end of the universe is!
- Geoff McBride answered on 16 Mar 2011:
  
  This is such a hard question. Most theories don’t discuss an edge. Some theories talk of a closed Universe that folds in on itself. Others talk of an open Universe but I’m not aware of any telecope images of an edge.

Question: How do we know where the edge of the Universe is?

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