How do people know universe is 13.8 billion years old?

Question

How can they know such a thing?

MrOracle · Accepted Answer

It's the best estimate based on the scientific knowledge that we have today - and it's widely understood that this estimate *COULD* be wrong. Many things once believed to be true have been proven wrong, and part of the scientific method is looking for better tools and better ways to understand what we don't know, and then to use experiments to prove or disprove those ideas. Disproving them often teaches us more than proving them.

This is why, if you read the actual books or studies, it's usually phrased something like "scientists BELIEVE that the universe is about 13.8 Billion years old." It's not like they can produce a birth certificate or anything, and they don't pretend otherwise.

Astrophysicists and other scientists will continue to do experiments and math and make observations and measurements and try to refine this number - and it may change, even many times - as knowledge increases and better tests are conceived and run - but the best number we have today is that number.

Telekinetic-Potato · Accepted Answer

Because of a lot of different things but part of it is that we know how fast light travels, and we also know that the universe is expanding. We can use all kinds of equipment to measure the expansion of the universe, and use our knowledge of physics to infer how far the edge of the universe is.

It's all insanely complicated mathematics and realistically, it's probably some other age. But it's a guess that is based on a lot of compelling evidence which I believe I'm right in saying that it's lined up with a lot of other properties our universe has.

Also they've done more simulations about this then you could believe

blissinanarchy1 · Answer

Educated guessing. Not vouching for either one side here, but science is a WHOLE lot of guessing and assumptions, and SOMETIMES you get it right, and even then you don't get the big picture. That's why I laugh at criticism towards religion, science honestly takes just as much, if not more faith.

jestergent · Answer

Think back carbon dating.. or exo planets orbiting the sun. Identifying the unknown with accuracy. Think of 13.8 however, as more of measure of the expansion of the 'observable universe' without account of 4 dimensions. It works wonders for now, useful for calculations when observing the skies.

Goforit1010 · Answer

They really don't know. They're just repeating what they heard or read. Because it came from some wingnut at an astrophysics lab, they figure that person (or group) would know, so people just assume that's the real number.

Guyvo · Answer

People understood space far far away is a blast from the past and discover the oldest of em all, universe itself

HD1450 · Answer

They have no freaking idea, that's like BC and AD who decided what year to start counting backwards in BC. And for all you geniuses BC is not British Columbia... lol

CuriousMufuxka · Answer

They don't know! Nobody fuckin knows! We haven't even figured if time is infinite or if there was a beginning of said universe. The more you learn about everything, you begin to realize you know nothing at all.

Anonymous · Answer

THEY DON'T ITS ALL MADE UP

Twalli · Answer

We don't know, but we can geo date things that far back, it could he older.

Aurora1010 · Answer

I always wondered those type of things too

exitseven · Answer

Scientists have had it carbon dated.

Anonymous · Answer

They looked at the copyright date?

How do people know universe is 13.8 billion years old?

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