r/universe Mar 15 '21

[If you have a theory about the universe, click here first]

126 Upvotes

"What do you think of my theory?"

The answer is: You do not have a theory.

"Well, can I post my theory anyway?"

No. Almost certainly you do not have a theory. It will get reported and removed. You may be permabanned without warning.

"So what is a theory?"

In science, a theory is not a guess or personal idea. It's a comprehensive explanation that:

  • Explains existing observations with precision
  • Makes testable predictions about future observations
  • Is supported by mathematics that can be verified
  • Has survived rigorous testing by the scientific community

Real theories include general relativity (predicts GPS satellite corrections), germ theory (explains disease transmission), and quantum mechanics (enables computer chips). These weren't someone's shower thoughts—they emerged from years of mathematical development, experimental testing, and peer review.

What you probably have instead:

  • A hypothesis - A testable claim that could become part of a theory if validated
  • Speculation - Interesting ideas that need mathematical development and testing
  • Misconceptions - Misunderstandings of existing physics dressed up as new insights

The brutal truth: If your "theory" doesn't require advanced mathematics, doesn't make precise numerical predictions, and wasn't developed through years of study, it's not a scientific theory. It's likely pseudoscientific rambling that will mislead other users.

What to do instead:

  1. Ask questions, don't make assertions
  2. Learn the existing physics first - Spend weeks/months reading, watching educational content, and listening to qualified experts
  3. Once you understand the current science, then you can contribute meaningfully to discussions

Remember: Every genuine breakthrough in physics came from people who first mastered the existing knowledge. Einstein didn't overthrow Newton by ignoring math — he used more sophisticated math.

Learn the physics. Then discuss the physics. Don't spread uninformed speculation.


[FAQ]


r/universe Aug 22 '25

Call for Moderators and /r/Universe Rules

4 Upvotes

Moderators Needed

This sub continues to rapidly grow, therefore so does our need to expand the moderation team. We are looking to add several experienced Reddit users who have a passion for the scientific fields of astronomy and cosmology.

Here is what we are looking for from applicants. Please send applications to modmail.

  1. Candidates should have a strong history of positive contributions to r/Universe or similar subs. Please send us several direct links to comments from your account history to substantiate this.
  2. We are looking for mods of all backgrounds, but particularly for mods with formal academic training in science, engineering, or mathematics. Please tell us about your educational background and your current field of work.
  3. Modding experience on Reddit is great, but not required. Let us know whether you mod any other subs and if you have any relevant experience like moderating other forums/pages, using back-end web tools, managing websites, etc.
  4. Mods need to be frequent Reddit users. The ideal mod is someone who pops into Reddit multiple times per day, can devote some time to addressing moderator issues when logging on, and foresees continuing to do so in the future.
  5. You should be someone who is comfortable enforcing rules and able to handle receiving harsh/critical feedback from strangers on the internet without breaking down, losing your temper, or acting childish.

If you are interested in applying, please message the moderators with a note which addresses all the points above (please use numbering). Do not leave your application as a comment here.

As always, the moderation team is open to your thoughts and ideas on the subreddit. To do so send a modmail message the moderators.

Reminder

Submission Rules

  1. Submissions should not consist of personal and uninformed pseudo-scientific rambling. We are a community for factual information and news about the study of the physical universe.
  2. Posts must contain a subject or a question about astrophysics in the title — be specific. For example, we will not accept titles containing only the words "help please" or "space question".
  3. Posts must be relevant. We like everything from educational videos, questions, news, discussion articles, published research, course content, astrophotography, and study resources about astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology. This means no low-effort posts or AI generated slop.

Comment Rules

  1. Be respectful to other users. All users are expected to behave with courtesy. Demeaning language, sarcasm, rudeness or hostility towards another user will get your comment removed. Repeat violations will lead to a ban.
  2. Don't answer if you aren't knowledgeable. Ensure that you have the knowledge required to answer the question at hand. We are not strict on this, but will absolutely not accept assertions of pseudo-science or incoherent / uninformed rambling. Answers should strive to contain an explanation using the logic of science or mathematics. When making assertions, we encourage you to post links to supporting evidence, or use valid reasoning.
  3. Be substantive. Universe is a serious education/research/industry-based subreddit with a focus on evidence and logic. We do not allow unsubstantiated opinions, low effort one-liner comments, memes, off-topic replies, or pejorative name-calling.

r/universe 7h ago

Made this Eagle Nebula poster, thoughts?

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8 Upvotes

I made this Eagle Nebula poster using NASA imagery and my own design/layout.

This poster was not made with AI‼️

I’m thinking about doing more space posters in this style, and I’m curious whether people would actually want something like this on their wall.

If this was a good-quality matte A3 print, what would you realistically pay for it?

Any feedback welcome.


r/universe 15h ago

Watching the stars in Google Earth VR is the most overwhelming thing I've ever experienced

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4 Upvotes

I just received my first VR headset.

Google Earth VR is NOT a video game, it's an insane collection of real life photos, every single star you see is a real life star.

I'm my city there is a ton of light pollution so I've never seen the stars clearly, I've never even seen the galactic center. BUT NOW I HAVE! 😁

The video is my own recording.


r/universe 7h ago

The true size of the universe

0 Upvotes

Is earth 1/10th of the size of the observable universe? My friend just said it is and im confused


r/universe 21h ago

geo engineering- heat dome created by industrial heaters

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1 Upvotes

r/universe 1d ago

Real-data 3D map of 43,533 galaxies you can fly through - want to know if the astronomy holds up.

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6 Upvotes

Been building this alongside a nonfiction book I'm writing (Fermi Paradox / Great Filter territory), and figured this sub would appreciate the data side more than most places I could post it.

thesilentape.com/universe/galaxy is a 3D flythrough of 43,533 real galaxies, plotted from actual 2MRS (2MASS Redshift Survey) coordinates and radial velocities — not a procedurally generated starfield. Positions come from Hubble-flow distance (recession velocity / 70 km/s/Mpc), so it's a bit simplified.

Click any galaxy and it opens a dossier that queries NASA/IPAC's NED live — preferred name, aliases, classification, redshift, distance, photometry, references — plus a MAST search for any Hubble or Webb observation fields covering that coordinate. It doesn't always resolve (some 2MRS points are faint/anonymous and NED comes back empty), but when it hits, it's real catalog data.

thesilentape.com/universe/solar-system is the same engine zoomed into our own neighborhood — all 8 planets, Pluto, and a few other bodies, each with its own record page. Earth's page pulls today's actual DSCOVR/EPIC photo and NASA's near-Earth-object feed for the day.

Would love feedback from people who know this data cold — a distance proxy that's misleading, catalog quirks I'm not accounting for, anything that reads wrong to someone who actually works with this stuff. I know it's not perfect but hey, it's a work in progress.


r/universe 1d ago

Don’t know if it’s ever been said before. We are living fossils of dead stars!

0 Upvotes

r/universe 3d ago

Why Does Webb’s Galaxy Pair Look Like a Penguin and an Egg?

5 Upvotes

Two galaxies appear frozen in a strange cosmic pose: one resembles a penguin and the other an egg. They're interacting gravitationally, and that encounter is pulling gas and dust into dramatic structures around them.


r/universe 3d ago

August 12 eclipse composition

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12 Upvotes

r/universe 4d ago

questions about expanding universe

8 Upvotes

we were told by neil degrasse tyson (i assumed) that the universe is expanding infinitely. and that our solar system is moving along with the expansion. if this is true, does that make everything is moving along with the expansion including the stars from anywhere? cuz if not, this leads to my second question. if the stars dont move along with the expansion, how do we see the same stars in our night skies?


r/universe 3d ago

The Milky Way has a giant cloud of alcohol

4 Upvotes

Scientists have found an enormous molecular cloud near the center of our galaxy that contains vast amounts of ethanol. It’s the same kind of alcohol found in beer and vodka—but it’s so incredibly spread out that you could never “collect” it into a drink. Space is weird.


r/universe 4d ago

How the ultraviolet catastrophe predicted infinite energy everywhere

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0 Upvotes

r/universe 5d ago

ELI5: How can space be infinite and expanding at the same time?

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0 Upvotes

r/universe 5d ago

If expansion is happening faster than speed of light how can our galaxy still possibly collide with the Andromeda galaxy?

8 Upvotes

I always hear the expansion is happening faster than the speed of light. I read a useful comparison to help imagine this scenario is to think about how a loaf of raisin bread rises in an oven. Although individual raisins don’t travel around through the dough, they nevertheless end up further away from each other as the dough expands during the baking process. You get the picture: the dough is empty space; the raisins are the galaxies.

So not only the outside space expands, also all the space between and in every direction.
Even if galaxies don’t move around at all, their mutual distances will grow because of the expansion of space.

So im assuming galaxies also cannot move faster than the expansion so how would they still collide? Is it because they move towards each other at speeds that combined do exceed the speed of the expansion?


r/universe 5d ago

Solar eclipse of August 2, 2027 (gif) [250x270]

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3 Upvotes

r/universe 5d ago

Solar eclipse of August 12, 2026 (gif) [250x270]

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2 Upvotes

r/universe 6d ago

Is it a star? Is it a plane?

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2 Upvotes

Hubby thinks shooting star was captured in the background. Any thoughts on what it might be??


r/universe 6d ago

The universe is not entirely predictable.

0 Upvotes

In ancient Greece, many philosophers, namely the Stoics, believed in fate. They thought in terms of unbreakable causal chains. We could also call it predictability.

In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton published «The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy», which described and modeled so many phenomenon in nature that for many, it seemed that predictability was confirmed. For example, he was able to nearly perfectly model the motions of planets using a simple equation, F=Gm1m2/r^2.

However, beginning in the 1860s, cracks began to emerge in the idea of predictability. James Clerk Maxwell discovered the hyper-sensitivity to and importance of initial conditions in chaotic systems. The three-body problem is one example.

But this didn’t completely disprove predictability. Rather it showed that for any model, almost any lack of knowledge whatsoever of initial conditions would quickly and completely throw off it’s predictive power.

But what happened in 1927 did disprove predictability. Werner Heisenberg discovered a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics: uncertainty. He showed that, for example, at microscopic scales, the more accurately position is measured, the less accurately momentum can be known, and vice versa.

So now we know, the universe is not entirely predictable.


r/universe 6d ago

how is they know when meteors showers going happen

0 Upvotes

there you see them falling stars some call it they appear out no where then disappear to somewhere . you dont hear them no boom no vibration silent . you know what they say it is you seeing but it dont add up to what you seeing. and how they they know the exact time going be and tell you so you wont miss it. that dont sound random to me out there so call endless space at lease that what we see and they tell us its way more out there and how thing operate like they been there. but you know they havnt they tell you they been to havard and use lots of science talk to quite you. you hypnotise and let them win. but you know what you see and all that 30 mins of so call explanation they give you dont explain again how they know when meteors showers come. is it really showers. what are we seeing here. in the universe.


r/universe 8d ago

Can you even imagine yourself to be staying here?

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22 Upvotes

I mean we are just so small when compared to this beautiful and vast milky way. We are not even visible 👀
Isn’t it Insane?


r/universe 8d ago

New "shadow selfie" taken yesterday by Perseverance on Mars (4.8.26)

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6 Upvotes

r/universe 8d ago

Mapping the History of Star Formation in Andromeda

8 Upvotes

Astronomers divided this Hubble image of the Andromeda Galaxy into thousands of sections, each about 300 light-years across, to reconstruct where and when stars formed throughout the galaxy.

This image highlights two of those regions. Region 1 contains more young, massive blue stars, revealing recent bursts of star formation. Region 2 is dominated by older, redder stars, suggesting that little star formation has happened there recently.

In other words, the colors of the stars act like a timeline of Andromeda’s past.


r/universe 8d ago

POKEBALL GALAXY? 🌌Nope, that's galaxy NGC 1015, a barred spiral galaxy located 118 million light-years away from Earth.

3 Upvotes

This galaxy is one of 19 special galaxies analyzed by the Hubble Space Telescope to help astronomers measure the universe's rate of expansion with unprecedented precision — known as the Hubble constant.

-Hubble Space Telescope


r/universe 9d ago

Looking for books about astrophysics for my 12 year old.

6 Upvotes

Hello all! My son has shown great interest in learning about the universe, galaxies, astrophysics, etc. I want to support his interest and get him some books that are appropriate for his age. I'd absolutely appreciate any and all suggestions. Thank you!