Re: how big is the universe?

I think when they say "infinite" they mean just that - goes on forever
and ever without end.

That is distinctly different from very, very large - which implies
that it is finite, though possibly so large that it appears for all
intents and purposes to be infinite.

There are also finite but unbounded - a universe that could be very,
very large (not infinite) but has no edge - say a 4 dimensional sphere
that you can go around to come back to where you started, as you can
on the surface of the earth.

Then there are things like perpetual inflation, which posits that our
very, very large big bang universe is one of an enormous and
constantly growing (though quite possibly finite) number of big bang
universes.

And then there are the really crazy theories...;-)

Ed Gibbs

Joe Zorzin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> When astronomers use the term "infinite" in this context, what do they mean?