Lonely Stars

Summary: Two missions in 2010 and 2012 saw a rocket launched for a ten minute look at the Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) from above the atmosphere. What is the EBL? Professor Jaime Bock of JPL puts it this way: "It's very faint - but basically the spaces between the stars and galaxies aren't dark. And this is the total light made by stars and galaxies during cosmic history."

Having two separate data collecting missions that looked at different area of the sky allows the scientists to rule out fluctuations due to dust within our solar system. Even with this precaution, there was still extra light. The team believes that based on the brightness and blueness of the EBL, it shows that stars exist outside of galaxies. There might even be just as many stars outside galaxies as inside; it's that bright.

Of course other astronomers are skeptical of this conclusion. They concede it may be possible but are leaving their minds open for new and different possibilities.


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