ABSTRACT
A situation in which there are no stars in the line of sight; for example, the hypothetical case of someone living on a planet at the edge of the Milky Way, who looks out into intergalactic space is considered. Even in this situation, the night sky would not be perfectly dark because there are many other luminous galaxies in the Universe. It is at this point that the fundamental nature of the problem of the dark night sky begins to become apparent. In 1823, Olbers published a paper that drew attention and came to be known as Olbers’ paradox. The chapter presents a short history of Olbers’ paradox. The Olbers' paradox can be stated in modern language as: ‘in a Universe consisting of galaxies that are of infinite age and static, the accumulated light would be so intense as to make the night sky bright and not dark as observed’.
