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The 12 inch ball (with a 6 inch radius) can represent the distance light has been able to travel in the nearly 13.7 billion years since the matter of the universe cooled to less than 3000 kelvins. We are at the center of this bubble of light, but many more times this volume of space exists outside this bubble, we just can not yet see its light.

Site link: The Inflatable Universe

Credit: NASA / WMAP Science Team

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WMAP # 081009