Olbers' paradox

American

[ohl-berz] / ˈoʊl bərz /

noun

Astronomy.

the paradox that if the universe consisted of an infinite number of stars equally distributed through space, then every line of sight would come from a star and the night sky would glow uniformly, which is observationally not true.

Etymology

Origin of Olbers' paradox

First recorded in 1950–55; after H.W.M. Olbers

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

People have been asking why space is dark despite being filled with stars for so long that this question has a special name – Olbers’ paradox.

From Scientific American • Oct. 19, 2023

Let’s take a moment to consider everyone’s favorite null result: Olbers’ paradox.

From Scientific American • Dec. 22, 2017

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023