2007-03-04 11:03:23 · 11 answers · asked by William K 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
In the sky: a few thousand depending on the level of light pollution where you are observing, and on the acuity of your eyesight
In the observable universe: Astronomers from the Australian National University have come up with a best guestimate of 70 sextillion (7 x 10^22) stars in the observable universe. They did this by studying star densities in sample spaces and then working out how many such spaces there are in the observable universe.
Here is an edited version of one article reporting this:
"70 sextillion stars in the 'known' universe!
According to a study by Australian astronomers there are 70 sextillion (70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the known universe.
It's also about 10 times as many stars as grains of sand on all the world's beaches and deserts.
The figure was calculated by a team of stargazers based at the Australian National University.
Speaking at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union meeting in Sydney, Dr Simon Driver said the number was drawn up based on a survey of one strip of sky, rather than trying to count every individual star.
The team used two of the world's most powerful telescopes, one at the Anglo-Australian Observatory in northern New South Wales state and one in the Canary Islands, to carry out their survey.
Within the strip of sky some 10,000 galaxies were pinpointed and detailed measurements of their brightness taken to calculate how many stars they contained.
That number was then multiplied by the number of similar sized strips needed to cover the entire sky, Driver said, and then multiplied again out to the edge of the visible universe.
He said there were likely many million more stars in the universe but the 70 sextillion figure was the number visible within range of modern telescopes"
2007-03-04 11:33:12 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you mean, how many can you see with unaided vision on a clear night away from city lights? About 3000.
If you mean, how many stars exist in the universe, then it's an unimaginably large number - something like 10^30 +- 10^20 .
2007-03-04 19:12:02 · answer #2 · answered by lip11 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
On a clear night, human eyes can see about 6000 stars.
In the Milky Way galaxy there are about 200 billion stars.
There are millions of galaxies, some larger some smaller than our own, each with anywhere from 100 million to 500 billion stars.
So no known definitive answer.
2007-03-04 21:46:53 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What exactly do you mean by 'number of stars in the sky'?
The number of stars in the entire Universe has been estimated at somewhere on the scale of a sextillion (10^21, or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000). However, the number of stars visible with the naked eye from Earth maxes out at perhaps a few thousand, depending on your location and the weather.
2007-03-04 19:07:15 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Sky?...hmmm What do you mean by the sky?.....If you are talking about the space, then we might be talking about an infinite number of stars....and you might be watching one that does not exist already....well...that is another question....
Regards
2007-03-04 19:08:50 · answer #5 · answered by bcampesi 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
70 Sextillion.
2007-03-04 19:05:44 · answer #6 · answered by Naters 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
im not sure where is oin?
2007-03-08 11:46:31 · answer #7 · answered by Tony N 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
None, they're in space.
2007-03-04 19:05:36 · answer #8 · answered by Haji 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
thats not known... nor ...ever will be.
2007-03-04 19:06:18 · answer #9 · answered by Richard J 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
5,218 (+/- infinity)
2007-03-04 19:06:19 · answer #10 · answered by peaco1000 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋