Monday, August 04, 2003
Estimate Claims Universe Has 70 Sextillion Stars
Astronomers announced on 22 July 2003 that there are 70 sextillion stars in the visible universe, or some 70 thousand million million million. That's a 7 followed by 22 zeros.
The figure paints an inadequate picture of the scope of the cosmos, however.
Other scientists have previously tried to pin down this most elusive of astronomical numbers. The new figure is 10 times more accurate than previous attempts, according to those who made it. Still, the researchers admit that it is just an estimate, based on surveying only a small patch of sky.
"This is not the total number of stars in the universe, but it's the number within range of our telescopes, said Simon Driver of the Australian National University. "The real number could be much, much larger still -- some people think it is infinite."
Zillions, for sure
A previous estimate, cited by NASA, put the figure lower, a 1 followed by 21 zeros. Another NASA Web site sagely puts the count at zillions, a word that does not represent a real figure but rather an "extremely large, indeterminate number." That presumes we'll never really know.
The new calculation was made by studying the brightness of a few galaxies in the relatively nearby region of the universe in one direction, in order to estimate how many stars each held. That was extrapolated to the entire universe.
The result is said to be more stars than there are grains of sand on all of Earth's beaches.
His research team included Jochen Liske of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, Nicholas Cross from Johns Hopkins University, Warrick Couch from the University of New South Wales and David Lemon from St Andrews University.
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