human: why can't we see past a certain point in the universe?

assistant: We can see just about as far as nature allows us to see, and two things keep Earthbound humans from peering deeper into cosmic vastness. First, the universe has been evolving with time, and stars and galaxies did not always exist; therefore, light from most of the galaxies may not reach us, and thus we can never truly behold objects that have sprouted before the dawn of starlight. Second, the universe has been relentlessly expanding with time, and as it turns out, in a uniformly expanding universe, where the more distant things are receding more quickly, it is inevitable that there is a distance beyond which the apparent recession speed is faster than the speed of light so that light can't catch up.

This bleak frontier, the cosmological horizon, might well extend infinitely, barricading within its depths secrets of unfathomable proportion. However, if you could suddenly freeze time everywhere in the universe, and magically survey all of creation, you would find galaxies extending out far beyond what we can see today.

human: This makes, sense but it's difficult to grasp how could we ever hope to understand a universe which actively expamds faster than we can observe it? And why are there certain events or horizons we cannot ever look past. I feel like stopping time is not something we will have access to in the near future.

assistant: It is true that the expansion of the universe poses certain limitations on our ability to observe it, as objects that recede beyond the cosmic event horizon become unobservable, as no new light from them will be capable of overcoming the universe's expansion. However, while we may never be able to observe these objects directly, there are still ways in which we can learn about them indirectly. For example, the gravitational effects of these objects can still be observed, which can give us clues about their existence and properties. Additionally, advancements in technology and observational techniques may allow us to detect more distant objects in the future.

As for why there are certain events or horizons we cannot look past, this is due to the physical limit created by the speed of light itself. No signal can travel faster than light, so there is a maximum distance beyond which nothing can be detected as the signals could not have reached us yet, called the particle horizon. This is known as the observable universe, which is a ball-shaped region of the universe comprising all matter that can be observed from Earth or its space-based telescopes and exploratory probes at the present time, because the electromagnetic radiation from these objects has had time to reach the Solar System and Earth since the beginning of the cosmological expansion. Assuming the universe is isotropic, the distance to the edge of the observable universe is roughly the same in every direction. That is, the observable universe is a spherical region centered on the observer. Every location in the universe has its own observable universe, which may or may not overlap with the one centered on Earth.

While it may be difficult to fully comprehend the vastness of the universe and the limitations imposed by the speed of light, it is important to remember that advancements in our understanding of the universe are constantly being made through research and exploration. While there may always be certain aspects of the universe that remain beyond our reach, our continued efforts to learn and discover more about the cosmos can still yield significant insights and knowledge.