"Roger" wrote in message
. nl...
I was hoping someone could help me with the following question. I am
trying
to understand something of the size of the universe, and I came accross a
quote that said "the universe is expanding in all directions, and that the
'Cosmic Microwave Background' (the remaining heat from the Big Bang, is
found at a distance of 15 billion light years from us in all directions."

Tow questions result from this:
- does this not suggest the universe is ball-shaped, and
- that the earth is pretty much at the centre of the universe, near where
the Big Bang occurred?

The 'ball' that we see could be just a bubble in the ocean. The universe
could
be much greater than the part we can see.
The size of the ball is limited by the age of the universe - the light
coming from the most distant
parts of the ball (the edge) needed a very long time (the age of the
universe) to come to us -
and this is exactly the 'Cosmic Microwave Background'.


Any input you can give me (in laymen's terms, please) would be welcome!

Rogier


JD