Olbers’ paradox states that if the universe is infinite and static, then at any given angle from the Earth the line of sight will end at the surface of a star. An infinitely old universe means that there has been plenty of time for the light from every star that has ever shined to reach our eyes. When we look up, there should be a star everywhere, in every piece of sky. Because of this, the sky at night should be just as bright as when the Sun is up.
The explanation for why the sky is dark instead of a brilliant curtain of light comes from more recent observations and discoveries about our universe made since Olber's time. In the nineteenth century, the nature of spacetime and the large scale structure of the universe was not yet understood. Indeed, astronomers didn't even know there were other galaxies besides ours, much less that they were all racing away from each other.
We now know however, that the universe is not infinitely old and static, the universe had a beginning - given birth by the Big Bang. This has important implications for Olbers Paradox. Because the universe has a finite age, one reason our night sky is dark is that many photons have not had time to reach us, those that have lie within our observable universe. This would not be so if the heavens had been around forever. The darkness of the night sky is a characteristic that argues against infinity.
@kjarn@gavincci@northy@kali66@amandal@wenbow =D Thank you so much! I better be careful, lest my ego get in the way of my future work... Especially being compared to dieties! =D I appreciate your comments and fav.'s so much!
April 8th, 2014
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