Olbert's Paradox

Olbert (1823) reasoned that in an infinite universe there should be an infinite number of stars so the night sky should be as bright as the sun. The famous Michelson - Morley interferometric experiment showed there to be no ether, so that could not be responsible for absorbing so much light. Hence it would appear the universe is finite, still young and there has not been enough time to fill up space to the observable limits with radiating bodies. However we now know the recession of the galaxies, indicated by their red shift, causes the brightness of distant stars to be diminished.