The universe is 13.8 billion years old. So why is it 93 billion light-years wide?
The universe is 13.8 billion years old. Light travels fast — the fastest anything can move. So by rights, the observable universe should be roughly 13.8 billion light-years across. Instead it's about 93 billion. That gap isn't a mistake. Space itself has been stretching since the very beginning — and it's under no obligation to obey the speed of light. The galaxies at the edge of what we can see weren't always that far away. They were much closer when they released the light we're catching right now. Space carried them outwards as that light travelled towards us. And here's the strangest part: what we can observe is probably just a fraction of what exists. The full universe may be vastly larger — perhaps infinite. Follow Deep Field Vault for more of the universe, one true fact at a time.