Cosmic

New Zealand is a wonderful place to watch the night sky. The air is unfeasibly clean and the background light pollution levels are so low that even in a town, the stars can be seen clearly all the way down to the horizon.
We all know that the light from the stars has travelled for thousands of years before reaching our eyes. The current state of the night sky will inevietably be different from that which we see, as the universe continues to expand and some stars die whilst others are born. So what happens when the expansion reaches it’s limit and according to some theories begins to contract? Some would have us believe that time will begin to run backwards at this point. Will we all get to live our lives again, but in reverse? When all the matter has gathered again, will it reach a critical mass and “big bang” again? Should this be the case, will everything happen all over again, exactly the same, or will chaos theory throw a flapping butterfly in the works?
Anyway, what is outside the universe? If it is nothingness, how does it differ from the nothingness within the universe? How are the boundaries of the universe defined? I know enough physics to know my quantum theory from my Newtonian, but not enough for string theory (well, only the basic premise). But cosmologically speaking, I know nothing. Why isn’t everyone in New Zealand a cosmologist? The questions are there, bright as, every clear night. Ask more.