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Cosmic optical background (COB) radiation is the visible light analog to cosmic microwave background, in the sense of there being optical signal detected in areas between the known sources, from beyond the Milky Way. As such, it is a portion of the extragalactic background light (EBL), the diffuse extragalactic background radiation (DEBRA), and the cosmic background radiation (CBR). Its study is hampered by the existence of the Milky Way's diffuse galactic light (DGL). Since visible light is just a very narrow band, the sources of COB are generally extensions of their emitted infrared and/or ultraviolet, and the term COB is perhaps most often used and discussed regarding its effect on observation within the visible range, e.g., something that must be compared and/or subtracted (sky subtraction) when observing a visible astronomical object.