#askethan

Ask Ethan: Do Ancient Galaxies Get Magnified By The Expanding Universe?

“Do ancient galaxies appear larger to us than they really were, due to the expansion of the Universe? If so, then by how much?”

It seems like the simplest, most straightforward idea in the world: the farther away an object is, the smaller it appears. View the same object when it’s twice as far away, and it will only appear to be half as large in terms of angular size. Place it ten times as far away, and you’ll see it appear just one-tenth the size. 

But this is only true in flat, static space. In the expanding Universe, this relationship falls apart, particularly when you factor in dark energy. More distant objects appear smaller the farther away you look, but only to a point. Galaxies that are about 14-to-15 billion light-years away will appear the smallest, and then the same-sized galaxy will actually appear larger the farther away you look! This may be counterintuitive, but there’s real, solid science to back it up. 

Fuck: Fiona

Marry: Danika

Kiss: Antonia

Cuddle: Katherine

Get Drunk With: Hunter

Ask Ethan: Can The Universe Ever Expand Faster Than The Speed Of Light?

“In the first millionths of a second of the Big Bang did the universe not expand faster than the speed of light?”

You know it as the most fundamental law of relativity: that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. And yet, the observable Universe itself, which has been around for 13.8 billion years since the Big Bang, is now 46.1 billion light years in radius. If everything were contracted down to a tiny volume of space, it seems that such a size would be impossible to achieve. Unless, somehow, space itself were expanding faster than the speed of light. As it turns out, though, not only is it still true that nothing can travel faster than light, but space itself doesn’t even expand at a speed at all! The reason for the confusion is that space expands at a speed-per-unit-distance, which allows the Universe to expand, light to redshift, and galaxies to appear to recede, all without exceeding the cosmic speed limit at all.

The Hot Big Bang no longer means what it used to stand for as Ethan Siegel explains.

Credit: Nicolle Rager FullerFrom a pre-existing state, inflation predicts that a series of universes will be spawned as inflation continues, with each one being completely disconnected from every other one, separated by more inflating space. One of these “bubbles,” where inflation ended, gave birth to our Universe some 13.8 billion years ago, where our entire visible Universe is just a tiny…

7. Have you every had your heart broken? Have you ever broken someone else’s heart?

I have never had my heart broken. I’ve never actually given my heart to anyone. But for the second question... In my head, I’ve broken my mother’s heart. It wasn’t intentional, but me being brought here seemed to have changed her. She is no longer the always positive, hardworking woman anymore. I could also blame it on my dad, being a drunk all the time, but he broke her heart long before I did. 

12. If you lost everything important to you tomorrow, whose arms would you run to in order to make everything okay again?

I already lost everything important to me when I was brought to Grimstone Point. I don’t really have much else to lose. I also don’t have anyone to comfort me if and when that happens again. 

14. If you could send a message to the entire world, what would you say to everybody?

Get ready world, Ethan Parkinson will make it to the Olympics one day and he will beat every last one of you. 

23. What was the last thing you did that was really worth remembering?

I honestly couldn’t even tell you. 

37. Do you consider yourself to be the hero or the villain of you story?

That depends on the day. I was a hero when I was with my mom and dad, but now? Not so much. 

I don’t have a favorite. I may have some that I like messing with compared to others, but I don’t necessarily like any of them. I don’t rank them either.

A drunk smile formed on Ethan’s lips and he chuckled. “Khianna has to be one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever laid eyes on. She’s got a brain too. Something you don’t find often.” He ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “I keep thinking about that one time she stripped in front of me just to show me her power…” He tilted his head to the side. “I wonder if she’d do it again, except with me actually watching her this time?” A cocky grin appeared. “I bet you I could convince her.”