As vast and empty as space may seem, even the darkest parts of the universe aren’t completely devoid of light. In fact, astronomers have long sought to measure the faint glow known as the Cosmic Optical Background (COB). This light provides key insights into the universe’s energy balance, one of
As vast and empty as space may seem, even the darkest parts of the universe aren’t completely devoid of light. In fact, astronomers have long sought to measure the faint glow known as the Cosmic Optical Background (COB). This light provides key insights into the universe’s energy balance, one of the holy grails of cosmology. Thanks to new data from the New Horizons spacecraft, currently 57 times farther from the Sun than Earth, scientists believe they’ve finally quantified the COB.
