Looking at what is known about the cosmos leads to an obvious conclusion: the universe shows trillions of years of evolution. Considering what is unknown, an eternal universe is likely.
Like physics at the other end of the telescope – quantum mechanics – the history of astronomy has seen a series of revisions about fundamentals.
The “Big Bang” standard cosmogony model posits that the universe began shy of 14 billion years ago. In defying known physics and disregarding definitive evidence to the contrary, the commonly accepted ΛCDM (Lambda cold dark matter) model is so absurd that it discredits institutionalized astrophysicists worldwide.
Calculations suggest that the observable universe has a radius of ~46.5 billion light-years. Further, from where we sit, the universe appears to be expanding.
Disproof of ΛCDM begins with observations by space telescopes which show large galaxies that must be billions of years old – yet were fully formed within just a few hundred million years after the mythical Big Bang.
Let us look at cosmic evidence afresh to surmise how old the universe might be.
A black hole is a spherical spacetime void. A black hole can form when a star of sufficient mass paradoxically simultaneously explodes while its inner remnants implode into a singularity that violates spacetime. Small, nonstellar black holes may form in a mysterious process of supposed gas collapse.
Black holes may engorge themselves by consuming nearby matter. Accretion is tricky, as black holes invariably spin at such a high speed that they throw out massive amounts of matter, sometimes at light speed. Such quick-spinning black holes are called quasars. The dividing line between a black hole and its light show is termed its event horizon.
Offsetting black holes as litter bugs is their velocity. As all heavenly bodies are hurtling through space, black holes sporadically run into star-sized consumables, including other black holes.
Black holes are voids in spacetime: literally holes in the fabric of existence. That existence is dependent upon nonexistence is a paradox. The idea that black holes grow only compounds that inscrutability.
Every galaxy known revolves around a supermassive black hole. Further, galaxies are profusely laced with black holes of various sizes.
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy that is ~100,000 light-years across. The Milky Way is home to upwards of 400 billion stars. Astronomers estimate that 100 million black holes roam among the stars in the Milky Way galaxy in which we reside.
Space telescopes in the past decade have led to a tally of at least 100 billion galaxies within observable range. Before those eyes in space, an astronomer might have guessed there were thousands of galaxies at most.
The size of supermassive black holes suggests that they were formed via repetitious events over hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of years. That enormous galaxies now revolve around these voids adds trillions of years to how old the universe must be. Then consider, from the known number of galaxies, what remains unknown. Add that there is no end in sight to a cosmos that is speeding through space and evidence points to an eternal universe.
Black holes at the center of it all cushion confirmation to the conceptualization. Figure that these monster matter mashers act as recyclers and there is no end to existence and its constant evolution.
References:
Ishi Nobu, “The standard cosmological model,” The Science of Existence (2019).
Brendan M. Lynch, “James Webb Space Telescope survey reveals fewer supermassive black holes than presumed,” Phys.org (23 August 2023).
“Hubble determines mass of isolated black hole roaming our Milky Way galaxy,” NASA (10 June 2022).
“How many stars are in the Milky Way?,” Space.com (11 February 2022).
“How big is our universe?,” NASA (15 July 2004).
“Observable universe,” Wikipedia.
“Lambda-CDM model,” Wikipedia.
Robert Naeye, “How do supermassive black holes grow so large?,” Astronomy (22 March 2021)
Alisa Harvey & Elizabeth Howell, “How many galaxies are there?,” Space.com (1 February 2022).