sextillion stars populate the universe, new
research suggests -- that's three times as many as scientists previously
thought.
If you're having a hard time wrapping your brain around a number like 300 sextillion (or a 3 followed by 23 zeros), imagine multiplying 3 trillion by 100 billion. Or, just go ahead and consider it numerous beyond comprehension.
In a study published online Wednesday in the journal Nature, scientists revealed the findings, based principally on the fact that red dwarf stars, in particular, appear to be even more ubiquitous than previously imagined.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Yale University astronomer Pieter van Dokkum and Harvard astrophysicist Charlie Conroy questioned the widely-held assumption among scientists that most galaxies are similar to our Milky Way.
Scientists previously guessed that other galaxies had a similar number of stars as the spiral-shaped Milky Way, but approximately one-third of the galaxies in the universe are elliptical, not spiral. And as it turns out, elliptical galaxies contain far more red dwarf stars than spiral-shaped galaxies do.
"We're seeing 10 or 20 times more stars than we expected," van Dokkum told AP.
After plugging in the numbers based on this data, van Dokkum and Conroy found that their estimates for the number of stars in the universe tripled the previous estimate.
300 sextillion stars populate the universe, new
research suggests -- that's three times as many as scientists previously
thought.
If you're having a hard time wrapping your brain around a number like 300 sextillion (or a 3 followed by 23 zeros), imagine multiplying 3 trillion by 100 billion. Or, just go ahead and consider it numerous beyond comprehension.
In a study published online Wednesday in the journal Nature, scientists revealed the findings, based principally on the fact that red dwarf stars, in particular, appear to be even more ubiquitous than previously imagined.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Yale University astronomer Pieter van Dokkum and Harvard astrophysicist Charlie Conroy questioned the widely-held assumption among scientists that most galaxies are similar to our Milky Way.
Scientists previously guessed that other galaxies had a similar number of stars as the spiral-shaped Milky Way, but approximately one-third of the galaxies in the universe are elliptical, not spiral. And as it turns out, elliptical galaxies contain far more red dwarf stars than spiral-shaped galaxies do.
"We're seeing 10 or 20 times more stars than we expected," van Dokkum told AP.
After plugging in the numbers based on this data, van Dokkum and Conroy found that their estimates for the number of stars in the universe tripled the previous estimate.
"It's fun because it gets you thinking about these large numbers," Conroy told AP.
What do you think about the new findings? Comment below.
If you're having a hard time wrapping your brain around a number like 300 sextillion (or a 3 followed by 23 zeros), imagine multiplying 3 trillion by 100 billion. Or, just go ahead and consider it numerous beyond comprehension.
In a study published online Wednesday in the journal Nature, scientists revealed the findings, based principally on the fact that red dwarf stars, in particular, appear to be even more ubiquitous than previously imagined.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Yale University astronomer Pieter van Dokkum and Harvard astrophysicist Charlie Conroy questioned the widely-held assumption among scientists that most galaxies are similar to our Milky Way.
Scientists previously guessed that other galaxies had a similar number of stars as the spiral-shaped Milky Way, but approximately one-third of the galaxies in the universe are elliptical, not spiral. And as it turns out, elliptical galaxies contain far more red dwarf stars than spiral-shaped galaxies do.
"We're seeing 10 or 20 times more stars than we expected," van Dokkum told AP.
After plugging in the numbers based on this data, van Dokkum and Conroy found that their estimates for the number of stars in the universe tripled the previous estimate.
A dark hole is seen next to the green cloud at the top of this
infrared NASA image from the Herschel space observatory and the National
Optical Astronomy Observatory on Kitt Peak, released on May 11, 2010.
The hole was originally thought to be a cloud, but is actually a gap in a
"nest" of gas and dust containing fledgling stars. Herschel's infrared
cameras revealed the hole.
If you're having a hard time wrapping your brain around a number like 300 sextillion (or a 3 followed by 23 zeros), imagine multiplying 3 trillion by 100 billion. Or, just go ahead and consider it numerous beyond comprehension.
In a study published online Wednesday in the journal Nature, scientists revealed the findings, based principally on the fact that red dwarf stars, in particular, appear to be even more ubiquitous than previously imagined.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Yale University astronomer Pieter van Dokkum and Harvard astrophysicist Charlie Conroy questioned the widely-held assumption among scientists that most galaxies are similar to our Milky Way.
Scientists previously guessed that other galaxies had a similar number of stars as the spiral-shaped Milky Way, but approximately one-third of the galaxies in the universe are elliptical, not spiral. And as it turns out, elliptical galaxies contain far more red dwarf stars than spiral-shaped galaxies do.
"We're seeing 10 or 20 times more stars than we expected," van Dokkum told AP.
After plugging in the numbers based on this data, van Dokkum and Conroy found that their estimates for the number of stars in the universe tripled the previous estimate.
"It's fun because it gets you thinking about these large numbers," Conroy told AP.
What do you think about the new findings? Comment below.