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ski233 t1_isk9jq8 wrote

Reply to comment by BridgeOnColours in Do 2 objects on opposite "ends" of the universe pull on each other to some extremely minute degree? by Courcy6185

Space is expanding. But not faster than light in any way/place we have observed.

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BridgeOnColours t1_iskbwn9 wrote

The reason we need JWST instead of Hubble telescope to see extremely far objects is the reason why your statement is wrong

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ski233 t1_iskc265 wrote

If the distant objects were expanding away from us faster than the speed of light then we wouldnt be able to observe them.

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BridgeOnColours t1_iskcrcu wrote

But we are able to observe them, because JWST is able to picture objects which wavelengths have been stretched into the infrared wavelengths, making it unobservable to Hubble, which can mostly detect visible light and some UV light.

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Ape_Togetha_Strong t1_islj6l3 wrote

We cannot observe things that are expanding away from us faster than the speed of light.

We can only observe the past of objects that are currently expanding away from us faster than light, because the evidence of that past was emitted before the object was expanding away faster than light.

That is the light that is highly red-shifted.

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MisterET t1_islgwk5 wrote

That's exactly true! That's called the observable universe, which is smaller than the actual universe. Our observable universe is expanding at the speed of light, but objects already outside of that bubble will NEVER be inside that bubble. They are forever outside our observable universe.

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MisterET t1_islgnlf wrote

Think about the implications of what you just said though. If space is expanding, and space is also very, very large, then there exists two points so far apart that they are expanding away from each other faster than the speed of light.

You don't even need to observe it specifically. If space is in fact expanding, that expansion is cumulative, and it necessarily exceeds c once you get enough space between points.

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