SIMBAD references

The dominant source of electromagnetic energy in the universe today (over ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared wavelengths) is starlight. However, quantifying the amount of starlight produced has proved difficult due to interstellar dust grains that attenuate some unknown fraction of the light. Combining a recently calibrated galactic dust model with observations of 10,000 nearby galaxies, we find that (integrated over all galaxy types and orientations) only 11%±2% of the 0.1 µm photons escape their host galaxies; this value rises linearly (with logλ) to 87%±3% at 2.1 µm. We deduce that the energy output from stars in the nearby universe is (1.6±0.2)x10³⁵ W/Mpc3, of which (0.9±0.1)x10³⁵ W/Mpc3 escapes directly into the intergalactic medium. Some further ramifications of dust attenuation are discussed, and equations that correct individual galaxy flux measurements for its effect are provided.