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Dark of the moon is darker than the sky1/18/2024 If the number density of stars is constant throughout space, then the total number of stars you'll find is equal to the stellar density multiplied by the volume of the Universe. Think about it mathematically, if you will. If the Universe were infinite, even a cluster like this wouldn't display 'gaps' between the stars, as a more distant star would eventually fill those gaps in. This is demonstrated here in the open star cluster NGC 3766, in the constellation of Centaurus. tens or even hundreds of times as massive as the Sun. Stars form in a wide variety of sizes, colors and masses, including many bright, blue ones that are. Regardless of the distance to them - millions, billions, trillions, quadrillions of light-years, etc. - eventually, wherever you looked, you'd run into a star. In the spaces between those stars, you'd see even more stars that were at an increased distance. You'd see all the stars that were nearby, and then in the spaces between the stars, you'd see the stars farther away. If you had an infinite Universe with a constant density of stars and/or galaxies, then you'd wind up seeing an infinite amount of light from every direction you'd look in. Even though we knew practically nothing about the large-scale structure of the Universe until the latter half of the 20th century, we still knew that an infinitely large observable Universe was simply an impossibility.īack in the 1800s, Heinrich Olbers took note of a mathematical paradox. What we do know, however, is that the part of the Universe that's observable to us must be finite. The jury, scientifically, is still out as to whether the Universe is finite or infinite we simply don't know. If this were the case, darkness would be impossible. But if this were the case, you'd fully expect that eventually, your line-of-sight would intersect a luminous object. It may be possible that the Universe is truly infinite, with an infinite number of stars and.
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