Is all of our universe… lit? Can you be hurtling through space and accidentally fly head first into a planet because oops you didn’t have your headlights on?

Question

Is all of our universe… lit? Can you be hurtling through space and accidentally fly head first into a planet because oops you didn’t have your headlights on?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Think of it this way.

At our point in space, any light reaching us is point light from the star’s source. No “reflected” light is strong enough to reach us past a certain distance, just look how small Venus and Mars are in the sky.

We see things in deep space far away when they block light from the stars.

So to answer your question, if there is a star close enough to you, then everything is lit. If you are in deep space, then objects in space will cause dark spots as you move through. Theoretically, you could hit it if you were not paying attention.