Abstract
We investigate the constraints that Olbers's paradox, applied to the zodiacal background as measured from space, sets on outer solar system objects. If extended to very faint limits, R ~ 40-50 mag, the steep optical number counts of Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) at R 26 imply an infinitely bright night sky. Small KBOs with radii of r ~ 1 μm to r ~ 1 km must have a size distribution n(r) ∝ r-a, with a ~ 3.4 or smaller to satisfy the known limits on the sky-surface brightness at optical and far-infrared wavelengths. Improved limits on the measured KBO surface brightness can yield direct estimates of the albedo, temperature, and size distribution for small KBOs in the outer solar system.
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