expanding universe
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Related to expanding universe: expanding universe theory
expanding universe:
see universeuniverse,totality of matter and energy in existence. The study of the origin of the universe, or cosmos, is known as cosmogony, and that of its structure and evolution, cosmology. The age of the universe depends on which theory of cosmology one accepts.
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expanding Universe
The observation that radiation from distant galaxies is redshifted leads to the conclusion that all galaxies (beyond the Local Group) are receding from us or, more precisely, that the distance between clusters of galaxies is continuously increasing. The Universe as a whole is therefore expanding. This expansion was discovered by Edwin Hubble in 1929 although it had already been suggested by theoretical cosmologists. It is the observational basis of the Big Bang theory. The Universe may eventually contract if the deceleration parameter exceeds 0.5. See Hubble constant; Hubble's law; redshift.Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006
expanding universe
[ik¦spand·iŋ ′yü·nə·vərs] (astrophysics)
Explanation of the red shift observed in spectral lines from distant galaxies as due to a mutual recession of galaxies away from each other.
(relativity)
A model of the universe describing the process defined in the astronomy definition, in which the universe is nonstatic, homogeneous, and isotropic; based on Einstein's field equations with a nonvanishing cosmical constant.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.