Why is the universe depicted as ovoid instead of spherical?

It’s a good catch. The whole ‘ovoid universe‘ thing is more about artistic representation than hard science.

Think of it like those old maps where they’d stretch and distort landmasses because they’re trying to cram a globe onto a flat page.

Depicting the universe in its mind-boggling size and true shape is, frankly, impossible.

Our brains (and our screens) aren’t built for that.

But, an ovoid shape gives us the sense of something with boundaries, some vast cosmic bubble, which is easier to grasp than the infinite expanse scientists think the universe likely is.

That shape also suggests expansion, which is a key concept – the universe hasn’t always been this big.

Those ovoid pictures are trying to communicate this constant outward growth.

But even calling it ‘growth’ is misleading.

It’s space itself that’s expanding, which is even weirder to wrap your head around.

It’s more akin to the way spots on a balloon move further apart as you inflate it, rather than some kind of massive object blowing up into pre-existing emptiness.

Honestly, a lot of our visualizations about the universe are just metaphors. We need ways to represent stuff that’s just way too big and complex to show literally.

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