The Sun Is Not the Only Source of Light on Earth

If you think that the sun alone is responsible for tanning the skin in summer, you are 'slightly' mistaken! According to the News Science website, scientists say that one billionth of a percent of the rays received that lead to changes in skin pigmentation come from sources other than the sun. These sources include ultraviolet rays that have traveled from stars and even other galaxies to reach our skin. Even photons remaining from the Big Bang explosion are found among these rays and account for approximately 0.001 percent of this light. Simon Driver and a research team at the University of Western Australia in Crawley are observing extragalactic background light (EBL). Using data obtained from various telescopes, Driver and his team measured the number of infrared and ultraviolet photons reaching Earth. According to the findings published in the Astrophysical journal, the origins of the photons that reach our skin on a sunny day are as follows: Directly from sunlight: approximately 77 percent; Reflection of light from the sky: approximately 23 percent; Photons remaining from the Big Bang: approximately 0.001 percent; Photons arriving from other stars and galaxies: approximately 0.000000001 percent. In other words, 99.999 percent of the light comes from the sun, and the rest from other stars, galaxies, and the Big Bang.