LIGHT DARK

BY AMY ZHENG

If there are an infinite number of stars in the sky, why is the night sky always so dark?

IThe girl was alone. She placed her hand on the icy handle and stepped outside as she had always done. Craning her neck, the girl looked up at the night sky. It was dark. Or rather, darker than before. Was it always this dark? Or was it just the smog? Either way, there was no light. None at all. The girl went back inside.

As per Sir Issac Newton’s assumptions, the universe is infinite, static, and uniform. And it is precisely because the universe is infinite that there are an infinite number of stars. It is from these assumptions that Olbers’ Paradox arises. Given that there are an infinite number of stars, there should be a star that follows every line of sight—so then why is the night sky still dark?

The girl was left once again in her house. She was left once again in her thoughts, her mind swimming with a strange murkiness that appeared every day. Her house was also the cage of her mind as she had concluded. And also the cage of her being as her mind had concluded. Her house was the place where the girl would shed the character she had created for herself. The symbol of clarity, intelligence, and wits—as her classmates knew it—was gone almost as quickly as it had been put up.

The girl slumped down against the couch. In the pure darkness of night, she was surrounded by sounds: the rhythmic chirping of crickets, the monotonic ticking of the clock…all mingled into a cacophony of noise she was far too used to. Tick, tock.

The girl began to let her mind wander. She thought about one idea that had always been on her mind. How could she possibly let others acknowledge her worth, her purpose, of her life on this Earth? Her perfect facade of achievement seemed to have started to minimally crack these days with every heavy step she took. Her pretend world of fulfillment that others seemed to see was gone.

So she began to ponder, to contemplate, to think about how to answer this question—she had no other choice. And then she, or perhaps it was her mind, eventually came to the conclusion that she would have no other choice but to patch herself up and continue holding on to the mask she had so carefully put up, even if it were merely by a single thread.

Ii

Another day was over. The sun had set so the girl went outside, as she had always done. Craning her neck, the girl looked up at the night sky. It was dark. The girl went back insi—light! A faint light from a dull flashlight was shining from across the street. When she squinted, she could barely see the figure of a boy.

Are you looking for the stars too? The voice that belonged to the boy called out. Startled, she hurried back inside, but not before giving a curt nod of acknowledgment, despite knowing that the boy couldn’t see her. It was quite strange.

Although she had been consistently going outside, she had never seen the boy before. But it seemed almost like a solace. One of the first interactions she had in a while where she did not have to put up her facade. She did not need to be perfect. They were just two people looking for stars that never appeared.

Many explanations have been proposed as a response to Olbers’ Paradox. The “red shift” is among them. It is a theorem that brings up how the wavelength of light produced by the star increases and stretches, especially as faster speeds move the star further away from the planet. This decrease in frequency then causes light to enter the infrared region, one that is no longer visible to the eye. But this also indicates that billions of years ago, when stars would have been a lot closer to the Earth, this light emitted from the stars would have been visible to the human eye.

That night as she sat against the couch, she began, once again, to ruminate. But the girl had a different question that night, one that she only dared to dream of. The mere seven-word sentence the boy had said to her just hours ago lent itself to become the spark of this foreign idea. Is it possible for someone to understand me? Is it possible for me to see a star?

Iii

The girl stepped outside once again. No stars tonight, it seems, a familiar voice called out.

From that day one, the boy would be sitting on his front porch gazing at the dark sky every night. When he heard the door open, he would turn on his flashlight almost as a way of letting the girl know she was not the only one who hopelessly hunted for any signs of light in the sky.

Day after day, or rather, night after night, went by just like this.

It’s dark out here tonight.

Where are the stars?

I really want to wish upon a shooting star.

The girl would never reply, but she would gradually stay outside for longer periods of time amidst futile attempts to hunt for stars. She got used to looking for the dull light from the flashlight as soon as she stepped outside.

It was just the chirping of crickets and the occasional wind of the car that went by that created a symphony for her. It was peaceful. It was the only time where her facade went down and the only time when she truly seemed to have answers to her questions.

It was night again. The girl went out and saw the familiar light of flashli—no—this wasn’t a dull light. It didn’t come from across the street. She looked up. There it was. A small, small, star, but it seemed to emit such a strong light! The girl, in a flurry of emotions, turned her attention away from the star and tried to search for the familiar dull light of hope from the boy’s flashlight. But it wasn’t there. She ran across the street to share the news—but the boy wasn’t there.

Day after day, night after night went by, and the tiny star continued to shine bright in the sky. But the boy was never there.

Cheseaux, Halley, Herschel, and so many more, have put forth their own arguments to explain Olbers’ Paradox. These include the division of space into “spherical concentric shells”, the analysis of energy density on the surface of a star, and the possibility of starlight absorbed by the interstellar medium…but maybe the explanation could be much more simple.

The solution to this paradox could simply remain in the fact that the lifespan of stars is cut far too short for light to have reached this planet.

Strangely though, the girl had conjured up a presence similar to his with aid from the tiny star. She felt reassured that the star would stay within her without needing to go outside anymore. Without needing to stay slumped down beside the couch, wondering about questions she never had the answer to. She was enough.