Size of the Cosmos

The adjective astronomical acquires new meaning as more powerful telescopes reveal millions of new stars and galaxies at ever larger distances. When optical probes fail to penetrate any further into the cosmic dust near-infrared devices (Cowen, f999) show up a hundred times more stars beyond the optical horizon. 

The expanding universe is believed to stretch the wavelength of longdistance photons to the point where only the faint microwave echo from the big bang remains detectable. Then comes the news of a powerful 7-ray source at the edge of the visible universe. 

In order to rationalize this observation (see section 5.2.2) a simulation based on cosmic inflation, cold dark matter and dark energy (called ACDM cosmology) is invoked to replace classical standard cosmology and speed up stellar evolution in the early universe by many orders. The knock-on effect of this assumption on the present size of the universe is not explained and the new standard cosmology will be treated here with the scepticism it deserves. 

Astrophysicist M. Davis is quoted (Wilford, 1990) as follows in this regard  

Such clustering of galaxies is not a new idea, as mentioned by Hoyle (1955), p. 272  

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