Ask Science
Ask a science question, get a science answer.
Community Rules
Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.
Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.
Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.
Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.
Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.
Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.
Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.
Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.
Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.
Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.
Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.
Rule 7: Report violations.
Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.
Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.
Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.
Rule 9: Source required for answers.
Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.
By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.
We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.
view the rest of the comments
Thank you! You got what I was trying to ask, but I didn't know exactly how to put it into words.
Put another way, now that you have landed on the number I was missing:
Each elastic yardstick of 41 million light years, has stretched to 45.5 billion light years, and it took 13.7 billion years to do it. Trying to visualize this type of abstract math borders on the surreal.
EDIT: maybe something like this famous dolly zoom?
But wait, there's more...!
I've heard it said often, in print and video, that inflation took the universe from subatomic size to the size of an orange, or to the size of the solar system, or even several light years, in an instant. That's quite an error range in the narratives.
But when the CMB flashed, what we call the visible universe was barely 380,000 years old, but already 41 million light years across. And the geometry of it seems flat, so if it is actually curved, it must be have been gigantically larger than that already.
Like I said, trying to visualize this borders on the surreal for a fragile primate mind barely out of the grassy steppes, in a much more placid place and time of the life of the cosmos.