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Oct 18, 2023 · Named for 19th-century astronomer Heinrich Olbers (though the question had been asked for centuries prior), the idea is this: If the universe is infinite and full of stars, then no...
Olbers's paradox, also known as the dark night paradox or Olbers and Cheseaux's paradox, is an argument in astrophysics and physical cosmology that says that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the assumption of an infinite and eternal static universe.
- Finite light in an infinite Universe. Like many of his contemporaries, Olbers followed Isaac Newton and René Descartes in believing the Universe was infinite.
- A poet’s intuition. Eight years later, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, poet and writer Edgar Allan Poe thought he had found an answer. On February 3 1848, he gave a public lecture about his ideas to 60 people at the New York Society Library.
- Two and a half facts. In the first half of the 20th century many new theories of the cosmos were developed, spurred on by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which explained gravity, space and time in new ways.
- The lifetime of stars. British cosmologist Edward Harrison resolved the conflict in 1964. He showed that the main factor determining the brightness of the night sky is actually the finite age of the stars.
Mar 22, 1999 · One version implicated dust between stars and perhaps between galaxies. The idea was that the dust would block the light from faraway objects, making the sky dark.
Oct 19, 2023 · The darkness of the night sky offers a profound insight on the nature of the cosmos
Oct 9, 2009 · The simplest answer to why the night sky dark requires that you use your imagination to picture our local star – the sun – and its family of planets. The sun’s light...
Oct 19, 2023 · Olbers’ paradox asks why, if the universe teems with stars, is the night sky dark? Shouldn’t we be able to see a star in every direction we look? Read on for the answer to Olbers’ paradox.
