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Old August 26th 08, 04:43 PM posted to uk.sci.astronomy
Mike Williams
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Posts: 108
Default The expanding universe (I'm getting taller and wider)

Wasn't it Brett... who wrote:
From http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia...ExpandUni.html

"galaxies are not moving away through space, they are moving away with
space, as space itself expands."

So does this mean that the all matter is moving away from other matter?

In other words, if galaxies are getting further apart from each other then
does that not mean that the molecules in your body are also getting further
apart from each other?


Objects that are gravitationally bound together, like the galaxies in a
supercluster, or the stars in a galaxy, are currently believed to not
get any further apart as the universe expands. The "metric" expansion of
space only makes superclusters recede from one another.

However, we don't yet know whether fundamental physical "constants" like
the Fine Structure Constant or the mass of the electron are really
constant. If those constants change over time, then the sizes of the
atoms in your body will also change over time.

--
Mike Williams
Gentleman of Leisure