"For the first ~3 billion years of cosmic history, the star-formation rate rose and rose until reaching a peak, but has fallen off significantly in the ~10-11 billion years since. Although an enormous number of photons have been cumulatively produced by stars, an even greater number were produced in the Big Bang" (Big Think, What created more light: the Big Bang or stars?) The photons that the Big Bang sent have already left the universe. The thing is that the photons that we see cannot match the Big Bang light. The photon is the only thing that can reach the speed of light. That means those photons that the Big Bang sends are traveling ahead of the material. The second thing is that the Big Bang is not one single case. It was a series of events that formed material into the form that we know it. The thing that we can see is the last stage of the event, that formed the universe. The universe's expansion causes the form of energy levels in the environment to change. Thos...