Concepts

Olbers' Paradox

OLE-bers

Citation Formats

General Reference

Space and Astronomy Atlas. "Olbers' Paradox." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://space.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/olbers-paradox.

APA Style

Space and Astronomy Atlas. (n.d.). Olbers' Paradox. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://space.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/olbers-paradox

BibTeX

@misc{spaceandastronomyatlas-olbers-paradox,
  author = {Space and Astronomy Atlas},
  title = {Olbers' Paradox},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://space.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/olbers-paradox},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Olbers' paradox is the argument that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the assumption of an infinite, eternal, static universe uniformly filled with stars: in such a universe every line of sight should eventually end on a star's surface, making the whole sky as bright as the Sun. The expansion of the universe, its finite age, and redshift together resolve the paradox in modern cosmology.

Facts

Concept Domain

Cosmology 1

Formulated Year

1823 1

Proposed By

Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers 1

Earlier astronomers, including Johannes Kepler, had discussed versions of the same puzzle.

Cross-Tradition Connections