We are now pretty sure that the Universe has been expanding since the big bang, not only expanding but the expansion has been accelerating. If so then a couple of things must be true. 1) The Universe was smaller yesterday than it is today 2) The average distance between galaxies was smaller yesterday then it is today. Go back 13 billion years and the distance between galaxies must have been much smaller than today, since the universe was much smaller than it is today. Given all that it is not surprising that one finds a universe densely populated with galaxies a few hundred million years after the big bang. What is surprising is that Hubble is capable of looking at almost first light. That is truly amazing. And to think we almost did not do the last Hubble repairs mission! Thank goodness we did repair Hubble a national treasure of the first order. Will Web be as good as Hubble? Hmmmm.
True, but it is a difficult thing to grasp: a universe that gets smaller and smaller the further out you look. Think of a set of concentric circles, each representing a further than previous distance. The circles get bigger and bigger, not smaller and smaller.
If the universe is expanding does that mean that the point of origin of the big bang, that original dot where it all began, is now a void that is expanding also?
And as that void grows so does the distance between the galaxies as they speed outward from that original point, much like the debris of a softball if you were to put an explosive device in its center.
If that is true then all the outward bound galaxies will eventually be spread out so far from each other that any physical effects they may have on each other will fade away. Will these galaxies just die out, disintegrate and fade away or pass thru an "invisible boundary" that makes them disappear and eventually lead to a universe devoid of matter entirely?
But back to the point of origin of the big bang. If we could locate that exact location and observe it, would we see it producing ensuing big bangs, much like the faucet in your sink that produces an endless stream of water when you turn it on?
I'm not being facetious in any way, it's just a thought that came to my simple human brain that is incapable of grasping the thought of infinity......