space

[blue orchid]

why is outer space so black if there are all those stars?

[Captain Swab]

They don't have lights out that far.

[brachiopod]

Because the universe is not old enough.

[brachiopod]

Just to elaborate a little.....

If there are just short of an infinite number of stars in the universe (ie. alot, but a finite number) - then wherever you looked in the night sky, there would be a star.
Even faint, distant stars would have another, possibly fainter, possibly brighter star right next to it. So why is the night sky not white with light?
Well, assuming wherever you look, there is a star, then the night sky should be bright.
However, the universe is simply too young and the distances too great for there to be enough time for the light from those distant stars, (in between the medium-distance stars, which are in between the closer bright stars) to reach our eyes here on Earth.

[Clanad]

The explanation furnished by brachiopod is known as Olbers' paradox, by the way....

[bernardo]

And they are very few and far between.

[brachiopod]

That's the blighter - cheers Clanad !!

Forgotten the name, and couldn't be b*thered to G**gle !!

[mibn2cweus]

It only looks that way because we are accustomed to having our star, the Sun, next door all day. Consider that the next star is about 300 000 times further away. If we did not have our Sun (and it�s reflection from the Moon and other planets) to serve as a reference (assuming we could survive without it) we might have a better appreciation for just how brilliant space actually is. Grab some binoculars; you might be pleasantly surprised at what you see up there.

Here is a sample of what lies in the deepest darkest reaches of space when viewed under high magnification outside of the glow and distortion of our atmosphere.

[Chappers]

Does that mean then, Brachiopod that as time goes on, more and more stars will have time for light to bounce off of them and to us it would seem that there are more stars and the night sky will get brighter?

Sorry if I didn't make much sense.

[theren_911]

If you think about it, we only see light as it is reflected off of things don't we? If its just light hitting nothing much then we aren't likely to see it.

hats how I understand it.

[chainfire]

just wondering - has one or two new stars been discovered (say once a decade - as a guess), as new stars are constantly being made all the time, but their light has not reached us yet, so when they do, do we notice?
Sorry if that doesn't make sense, i couldn't think how to phrase it

[brachiopod]

'New' stars are being discovered all the time, chainfire.
But is it because we have 'better telescopes' or because their light has only just started to reach us ?? Have a think about it !

[chainfire]

Has any 'new', "bright" stars appeared lately, as it must make some star charts wrong?

[chainfire]

Ahh, just thinking about it, they wouldn't be so bright, because if they just appeared because they were so far away, then their brightness would be greatly disminished by the distance.

[kirbsmeister]

Because there's no atmosphere! The moon's dark, and it has no atmosphere. The Earth's light, and it has an atmosphere. Simple.

[Upforit]

Because the sun, like me, goes to bed. Eventually. (pass me a beer!)

[allen63b]

You may find it helpful to understand what a light year actually is so here goes and good luck

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_year