The finding of the "color of the universe" was not the focus of the study, which was examining spectral analysis of different galaxies to study star formation. Like Fraunhofer lines, the dark lines displayed in the study's spectral ranges display older and younger stars and allow Glazebrook and Baldry to determine the age of different galaxies and star systems. What the study revealed is that the overwhelming majority of stars formed about 5 billion years ago. Because these stars would have been "brighter" in the past, the color of the universe changes over time shifting from blue to red as more blue stars change to yellow and eventually red giants. As light from distant galaxies reaches the Earth, the average "color of the universe" (as seen from Earth) marginally increases towards pure white, due to the light coming from the stars when they were much younger
and bluer.