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You are here: Home / Space / How Do You Blow Up the Universe Using Just a Balloon and a Magic Marker?

How Do You Blow Up the Universe Using Just a Balloon and a Magic Marker?

March 25, 2020 by Karen Hill

Try this exercise to visualize the universe as astronomers see it.

Take a deflated balloon and draw small stars on it with a marker.

The stars represent galaxies. Label one the Milky Way, for our galaxy.

Now, blow up the balloon. The growing balloon is similar to the expanding universe.

You will see how the stars spread out, which is something like the way galaxies move apart.

The air inside the balloon represents the past; the balloon surface represents the present; and the air surrounding the balloon represents the future.

Blowing up a balloon dotted with “galaxies” can give you an idea of how the universe is expanding.

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Filed Under: Space

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « When Will the Universe End, What Is the Big Crunch Theory, and Will the Big Crunch Be the End of the Universe?
Next Post: How Does the Universe Expand and How Can We Observe the Universe Expanding? »

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