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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Future Universe Will "Stop Expanding," Experts Suggest


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An image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2004 shows the deepest portrait of the visible universe yet recorded. The stunning view, which includes about 10,000 galaxies, still represents only a fraction of the universe as we know it today.

If intelligent life exists in about a hundred billion years, to them the universe will appear as a static stretch of space containing just one galaxy, according to a new prize-winning essay. That's because evidence of other galaxies—as well as proof that the universe is expanding—will have completely disappeared from the view of even the most powerful telescopes.

Image courtesy S. Beckwith and the HUDF Working Group (STScI), HST, ESA, NASA