A Perspective on Detecting the Collapse of the Universe

By Ruslan M. Shallak

rshallak@apt-lb.net

Based on Hubble observations and noticing the redshift phenomenon of the light from faraway galaxies, the universe is expanding in all direction [1]. The light from galaxies needs millions year to reach us, so we are looking at the universe in its past image [2].  Therefore, the universe may be have already started collapsing on itself and already headed toward big crunch but its image has not reached us yet or has not yet been detected.

Keywords: Cosmology, Universe expansion, Universe collapsing.

Figure 1. Redshift phenomenon of distant galaxies [3]. 


The detection of the expansion of the universe depends on redshift of distant galaxies due to Doppler Effect. Hubble discovered that the wavelengths of light coming from distant galaxies were stretched out which is known as redshift, as the light is shifted towards the red end of the light spectrum. Therefore, it concluded that the universe is expanding. Whereas the present observation of the space is the past image of the universe. The farther the stars and galaxies are, the older the image we receive since the light takes time to reach us. For example, if we are looking at a star or a galaxy one million light-year away moving away from us, then we are observing what happed to this star or galaxy one million years ago. Then what if this star or galaxy at our present time started moving toward us, we will only detect this event only after one million years from now. So there is a probability that the collapse of the universe has already started but we are not aware of it.

My perspective to detect the collapse of the universe lies in the blueshift of the nearest stars or galaxies to us. Blueshift is opposite to the redshift phenomenon the means the star or the galaxy is moving toward us instead of moving away from us.


Figure 2. Blueshift phenomenon of distant galaxies [4].


If the universe is collapsing at the present time then this is happening at every point in the universe. As a result, all the constitutes of the universe are moving toward each other. We are receiving old information or image from far stars or galaxies depending on the distance. Therefore, to get new information we must look for the closest one that depends on the time when the universe has started to collapse. The perspective to approximate the time when the collapse of the universe has started is by detecting the barrier between redshift and blueshift of the galaxies. For instance, if most of the blueshift of stars or galaxies are in the one million light- year zone, then the collapse has started one million years ago. We know that there are some stars or galaxies are blueshifted since they are moving toward us. In order to differentiate between the blueshift of stars or galaxies due to the collapse of the universe and blueshift that is moving toward us, we should detect the barrier zone.

 

References:

[1] Hubble's Exciting Universe: Measuring the Universe's Expansion Rate (hubblesite.org)

[2] NASA’s Webb Delivers Deepest Infrared Image of Universe Yet | NASA

[3] Hubble census finds galaxies at redshifts 9 to 12 | ESA/Hubble (esahubble.org)

[4] Gemstones in the Southern Sky | NASA