When we look up at a clear night sky, we see space: a vast, seemingly infinite expanse that contains everything we know to exist.
To find out what is beyond space, a good place to start would be to figure out where space – our universe – ends. The problem is we don’t know where space ends, or even if it ends at all.
The furthest we can see out into space, using all the technology we currently have, is 46 billion light years away. The volume of space that we can see is called the observable universe. We don’t know what is out there beyond this. Perhaps it’s more galaxies and stars and space. Perhaps it’s the edge of the universe.
Some people think that the universe is infinite – meaning it goes on forever, in every direction. In this case, there is nothing after space, because space is everything.
But even if the universe did have an end, it might be very difficult for us to figure out where the edge is.
Think about our home on planet Earth, for instance. We know that the Earth doesn’t go on infinitely: it ends and space begins. But if you were to set off walking, looking for the edge of the Earth, you’d never get there even if you walked forever. This is because Earth is a sphere. To figure out that the Earth has an edge, and where it is, we need to know its shape.
Understanding the shape of the universe, might help us figure out where its edge is. Astronomers are studying the universe right now, looking for clues that might tell us more about its shape.
