JJ wrote in message . ..
Hello,

I was watching a NOVA program on how some astronomers came ot the
conclusion that the universe was expanding, something I thought was
always known.

You thought the Ancient Greeks knew the Universe was expanding?

Anyways, thats what sparked this train of thought.

In the vauum of space, there is more than just a vacuum. There are
millions of little particles, constantly popping in and out of
existance, if i'm not mistaken. Now if the universe is constantly
expanding then everything in the universe is moving, not just moving,
accelerating. Now, while we are hurtling through space, we must be
hitting those particles in the vacuum.

Imagine a balloon with quarters taped to the outside. Say, the balloon
is the Universe, and the quarters represent galaxies, or any other
matter in the Universe. You blow up the balloon. The distance quarters
increase. The quarters never run into each other. In fact, it's
opposite. They get farther apart. You could imagine the quarters as
particles. The expansion of the Universe isn't going to cause us to
run into particles.

Besides the "millions of little particles, constantly popping in and
out of existance" are virtual particles, not normal particles. You
could think of them as contributing to the vacuum energy of the
Universe but that's not what you're talking about.

Jeffery Winkler

http://www.geocities.com/jefferywinkler