Olbers had come to this conclusion because he realized that if space extended without end and if it contained a similarly infinite number of stars, then eventually any line of sight would terminate with a star (Fig. 4.1). Therefore, every possible point in the sky should shine brightly. To get a sense of why this follows, imagine standing in a forest surrounded by trees at various distances. If the forest continued forever in every direction, then however wide the trees were and however wide the gaps between the trees surrounding you were spaced, every line of sight would eventually terminate
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