2007-06-23 01:24:51 · 21 answers · asked by AbhiK 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
A best guestimate is about 70 sextillion (7 x 10^22).
First of all the observable universe is not infinite but is calculated as having a diameter of 156 billion light years. There may or may not be anything beyond what we can observe, but by definition, we will never know that, will we? It may be finlte or it may be infinite, but we will never know that, either. We have no way of telling.
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."
2007-06-23 02:07:28 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
About 5,000 stars can be seen with the naked eye, although not all of these stars are visible at any given time or from any given place. With a small telescope, hundreds of thousands of stars can be seen. The largest telescopes disclose millions of galaxies, which may each contain over 200 billion stars. Modern astronomers believe there are more than 1 x 10 to the power 22 stars in the universe (this number is very large, a 1 followed by 22 zeros).
2007-06-23 03:10:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
3
2007-06-23 01:27:16 · answer #3 · answered by Martyn A 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, a galaxy has about ten million to one trillion stars and in our magnificient Universe there are about more than one hundred billion galaxies. So if you make the next operation :
medium number of stars / galaxy * number of galaxies
you will get the number of stars in the Universe, although you will receive a very big number.
2007-06-23 01:43:43 · answer #4 · answered by Alin H 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Stars are not scattered randomly through space, they are gathered together into vast groups known as galaxies. The Sun belongs to a galaxy called the Milky Way. Astronomers estimate there are about 100 thousand million stars in the Milky Way alone. Outside that, there are millions upon millions of other galaxies also!
2007-06-23 01:35:58 · answer #5 · answered by ? 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It has been said with authority that there are more stars in the universe than all of the grains of sand on all the beaches on this planet, that their may be more GALAXIES than all the grains of sand on all the beaches!
2007-06-23 01:51:50 · answer #6 · answered by mike453683 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They haven't all been counted yet. There are more than a billion just in our galaxy. The total in the universe is unimaginably large. Way beyond trillions or quadrillions.
2007-06-23 01:31:34 · answer #7 · answered by Joan H 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Not that many actually. Don't believe all the answers on here about ''billions and billions''. Where? I don't see them! I have actually counted them last night, I would say there are roughly about two dozen. And they are all really tiny. Not worth bothering about. Give off less light than a 60watt light bulb! Stars - big deal!
2007-06-23 01:50:24 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
With our current technology it's immeasureable but thought to run into the billions given the research done to date.
2007-06-23 01:29:05 · answer #9 · answered by clubkid_03 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the words of the late Carl Sagan "Billions and Billions".
2007-06-23 01:30:34 · answer #10 · answered by John F 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋