How big is the universe currently estimated to be?

[SomeDude0569]

In my astronomy class this year this worksheet said that the universe is 14 billion light years across, is this the statistic that most people have these days? I'm sure its well above 14 billion light years by now since its getting bigger and bigger as we speak, but is 14 billion light years an accurate estimation?

[arv]

there are quite a lot of theories on the size of the universe.... but the general notion is that it is infinite. the three types of universe that are possible are: closed: the universe will expand till a certain limit and then start closing inopen: the universe keeps growingflat: the universe will grow till a point and then stay at that sizebut these sizes are so big that they are considered to be infinite

[Leibniz]

Fuckin' big.

[Raymond8922]

In 'proper-distance', the universe is 14 billion light-years in radius, because that is the furthest we can see. At that distance, we'd be looking at the start of the universe, therefore it is impossible to see further.If it were possible to see the universe as it is "now" (the co-moving distance), the part of the universe we can see (the 'visible universe') would be bigger than 14 billion light years.This is simply due to the slow speed of light. The further out we look, the further in the past we see. In the past, the universe was smaller than it is now.There is no easy formula to go from proper distance (based on the time it took light to travel from the source to here) to co-moving distance (it is an integral that needs the Hubble constant as a function of time -- the speed of expansion changed throughout the life of the universe).WMAP, a probe sent to observe the Cosmological Microwave Background radiation, tried to see signs that the universe was smaller than 14 billion light-years (possible if the universe is wrapped on itself). It did not find these signs, so all we know is that the universe is at least 28 billion light-years across (diameter) in proper distance (we can guess-timate around 60 billion l-y in co-moving distance).The universe could be infinite in spatial extent. And it could be flat. (space-time could still be curved as it includes this idea of looking back in time as we look out in distance). This would solve a lot of problems. But we have absolutely no proof that it is infinite... or that it is not.

[bighair19783899]

it never stops.

[sushmak]

The universe is so huge that one can never say the end unless a space shuttle is designed in such a way that it can move very fast , faster than the speed of light only then we can say the distance of our universe.The 14 billion light years is the the distance till which we can see i.e; the distance is dected through the light. The light has travelled upto that distance.As you see the speed of light is not enough to estimate the distance of the universe so we must make the space shuttle or any other means that over comes the speed of light and then we will be able to find the exact distance.14 billion light years is an accurate estimation.But this distance is not constant since the universe is expanding.This distance only constant for our visibility but not in the real estimation.