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Our Universe is Expanding at an Alarming Rate 

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Our Universe is Expanding at an Alarming Rate 

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Ever since the Big Bang had occurred our universe has been expanding. Galaxies have become increasingly farther and farther away from each other over time. Due to recent discoveries, scientists have found out that a mysterious substance called dark energy is accelerating this expansion.

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This is a Diagram Displaying the Current Expansion of our Universe

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This is a Diagram Displaying the Current Expansion of our Universe

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To put this phenomenon into a tangible form, people have compared the expansion of space to raisin bread baking in the oven. As it bakes in the oven the dough rises and expands in all directions. As the dough expands the individual raisins get farther away from each other. This is the exact same thing happening in our universe. The bread is space itself and the raisins are galaxies.

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Raisin bread dough rising from yeast can be a useful analogy to help us understand the expansion of the universe after the Big Bang Theory.

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You might be wondering if galaxies are moving away from each other are planets and stars moving away from each other? Are atoms expanding? This is not the case because universal expansion does not occur at a local level. As of now, the expansion of space cannot break nuclear bonds or part away the arrangement of planets in our solar system. However, in the far future dark energy could create an exception to this rule.

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You could think of dark energy as the oven in the raisin bread model. Thermal energy in the oven can represent dark energy in space. Dark Energy is an unknown form of energy that makes up roughly 68% of the universe and is believed to permeate all of space, tending to accelerate the expansion of the universe. Due to the increasing amount of Dark Energy, in the next billions of years the expansive force might become so strong it may overcome the gravity that holds galaxies together. This phenomenon is called the “Big Rip” and if it is true the space between stars, planets, and even atoms might expand in the far future.

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The universe will continue to expand long after we are gone. The universe will continue to expand when all life is gone. The universe will continue to expand even after the "Big Rip." The universe is infinite and it will go on and on without stopping because there is no limit.

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NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

Andrew, Elise. "Why is the Universe Accelerating?" IFLScience. IFLScience, 15 Aug. 2016. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

"Is Everything in the Universe Expanding?" Universe Today. N.p., 14 Mar. 2017. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

"New model of cosmic stickiness favors 'Big Rip' demise of universe." Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

"Raisin Bread Universe." YouTube. YouTube, 09 June 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

"What does it mean when they say the universe is expanding?" What does it mean when they say the universe is expanding?(Everyday Mysteries: Fun Science Facts from the Library of Congress). N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

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Our universe is expanding in all directions. It has been since the Big Bang or beginning of our universe. This expansion pulls galaxies away from each other farther and farther every single day. The farther a galaxy is away from us, the faster it is moving. To picture this think of a loaf of raisin bread baking in an oven. As it is baking the loaf is expanding in all directions and the individual raisins are getting farther and farther away from each other. This is the exact same thing happening in our universe. The bread is space itself and the raisins are galaxies moving away from each other. Even though most of all galaxies are moving farther away from each other, there are a few exceptions. The Andromeda Galaxy is actually traveling closer to our galaxy, The Milky Way. This is happening due to the overwhelmingly strong pull of gravity between the two galaxies which overcomes the expansion of space. The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies will collide in about 4 billion years.

You might be thinking if space is expanding, is our galaxy itself expanding? Are planets expanding? Are atoms expanding? This is not the case because universal expansion doesn’t occur at a local level as of now. The expansion of our universe can not break atomic bonds or part away the arrangement of planets in our solar system. Our galaxy, The Milky Way, has a large gravitational pull which sustains the arrangement of its celestial bodies. Bodies in our universe such as planets, moons, stars, and galaxies, all stay the exact same size because these bodies aren’t expanding. What actually is expanding is space itself.

Recently, scientists have discovered that the accelerating expansion of our universe is not caused by the momentum left from the Big Bang, but from the increasing amount of a mysterious substance called Dark Energy. “Empty space” isn’t actually empty it contains energy which is known as Dark Energy. Dark Energy is an unknown invisible form of energy that makes up roughly 68% of the universe, and is believed to permeate all of space, tending to accelerate the expansion of the universe. Due to the increasing amount of Dark Energy, in the next billions of years the expansive force might become so strong it may overcome the gravity that holds galaxies together. This phenomenon is called the “Big Rip” and if it is true the space between stars, planets, and even atoms might expand in the far future. As of now, the expansion of the universe doesn’t occur at a local level, but if this theory is true it will change everything.

You may wonder if there is a limit to the expansion of space. Is there an end point? Will we humans ever see the end? What we know now is that the universe will continue to expand long after we are gone. The universe will continue to expand when all life is gone. The universe will continue to expand even after the "Big Rip." The universe is infinite and it will go on and on without stopping because there is no limit.