Sometimes, peering into the night sky, it becomes interesting whether there are boundaries of outer space and how many stars in the universe. Scientists all over the world are trying to answer this question. But over time, it becomes clear that the number of stars in the universe is greater than previously thought.
Therefore, we can only trace the chronology of opinions and assumptions about their number, including recent knowledge and research.
Our knowledge of the universe
Once upon a time, during the time of Plato, the scientific world believed that the number of objects in the Universe does not differ from what we see with the ordinary eye.
Three to four thousand stars were read. And the idea of space was fundamentally different from the modern interpretation.
During the Middle Ages, the first telescope invented by John Lippersgue in 1608 appeared. Since then, it has become possible to observe distant objects. The scientific world and philosophers of that time sent the first telescopes into the night sky. From this moment it became clear that how many stars in the universe do not correspond to ordinary visual observation. They turned out to be much more, part of the invisible objects became available to scientists and philosophers, armed though primitive (consisted of two lenses), but more effective than human eyes, telescopes.
Despite this, the stars and galaxies at that time were taken for the same object. Understanding that a galaxy could contain billions of stars did not exist then. And this greatly distorted the understanding of the total number of stars in the universe.
Technologies and Opportunities
A hundred years later, in the eighteenth century, the power of telescopes increased tenfold. This is what allowed scientists to observe new, previously invisible objects of the Universe. By that time, about a hundred thousand stars had become available for observation. The ability to see has always been limited to knowing how many stars in the universe are at different times in the knowledge of our civilization.
Today, the resolution of optical equipment has increased thousands of times. Compared to the original original thirtyfold telescope Galileo Galilei.
The launch of the Hubble orbital telescope made it possible to increase this figure by another 7–9 times.
Before the eyes of astronomers around the world, new spaces of the Universe have opened. According to scientists, to determine how many stars in the universe it is necessary to understand how many galaxies are in it and what are its sizes. The reason for this is the presence of gravitational forces that hold the stars in the galaxies.
Visible part of space
According to preliminary calculations, in the field of the visible Universe (about 14 billion light years) there are more than seven trillion galaxies. But scientists believe that nebulae and cosmic dust cover about 90% of objects. Therefore, the figure can easily turn into seventy trillion.
At the same time, each galaxy contains billions of stars. Depending on its size, from several million to a trillion.
At the moment, the scientific world believes that in the visible part of the Universe there are about 10 to 24 degrees of stars. But it is impossible to specifically state that this is an exact figure. The reasons for this are quite good. We are not visible to all objects and the exact dimensions of the Universe, if any, are not known. Modern optical technology thoroughly studies the stars and constellations of the visible space. New galaxies are distinguished and classified. A study is made of each object individually.
The search for truth continues
The optical method of observation, which was previously beloved by astronomers, turned out to be incapable of detecting all objects of the observed part of space.
Therefore, additional studies are carried out in the infrared and x-ray range. This work is time-consuming for scientists around the world. And the catalog is replenished with new objects. The number of detected objects is growing steadily.
For example, in 2014, the new Ultra Deep Field telescope examined 1/13000000 of the observed sky and discovered about ten thousand galaxies in this area. All this information requires careful processing and analysis. For a further, more complete understanding of the structure of the universe.
Perhaps, over time, we will realize that our knowledge of how many stars in the universe is wrong. The cosmos itself is unlimited or has a different structure of space. And it may well turn out that we live in one of the many universes. Whatever the truth, the desire of mankind for knowledge sooner or later will lead to an answer to the question posed.