Define Olber’s paradox.

Olbers' Paradox, named after the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers, addresses the apparent contradiction between the observable darkness of the night sky and the assumption of an infinite, eternal, and uniformly distributed universe.

The paradox begins with the idea that in an infinite and static universe with an evenly distributed number of stars, every line of sight from Earth should eventually intersect with the surface of a star. Consequently, the night sky should be ablaze with the light from an infinite number of stars, rendering it as bright as the surface of a star.

The resolution to Olbers' Paradox lies in several factors. Firstly, the universe might not be infinite and unchanging. If the universe has a finite age, and light has a finite speed, then not every line of sight would intersect with a star. Additionally, the universe might not be uniformly filled with stars, and the absorption or scattering of light by interstellar dust and gas could contribute to the darkness of the sky.

While Olbers' Paradox assumes certain conditions that may not accurately represent our universe, it has stimulated valuable discussions about the nature of the cosmos, the Big Bang theory, and the finite age and size of the observable universe.