Flat,closed and open universes. Artwork showing the geometrical curvatures of a 'flat' (left),'closed' (centre) and 'open' (right) universe. The galaxies are shown on a curved grid,which represents the overall geometry of the universe. The universes have planar,spherical and saddle curvatures respectively. The curvature of a universe is determined by the amount and density of matter and energy. In an open universe,the amount of matter is insufficient to prevent the universe expanding forever. In a closed universe,there is enough matter to halt the expansion,followed by a contraction to a Big Crunch. In a flat universe,the amount of matter has a critical value between these two extremes | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / Garlick, Mark |
Taille de l’image : | 7898 px × 3099 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |