Why is the Sky Dark at Night?

By Nancy Atkinson - October 02, 2012 04:15 PM UTC | Cosmology

The

Minute Physics

folks have created another great video, this time explaining why the sky is dark at night. Although at first glance it seems like an easy question to answer, throw in

Olbers' Paradox

(the light from an infinite amount of stars should make the night sky completely bright) and it really is quite a complicated matter. In fact, it takes the Minute Physics teams nearly

four

minutes to explain it all!

Our latest video — free on Patreon Best Way For The Universe To End The extended edition: ad-free, with extra content. Free to watch — no account needed. ▶ Watch it free

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com