In addition to pinning down a total number, the study analyzed the number of galaxies that were present in the distant past compared to the number of galaxies that exist now. By peering 13 billion light-years into the past, shortly after the Big Bang, the researchers found that there were 10 times more galaxies in the ancient universe than there are now (most of which were small, about the size of the satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way).
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So the number of galaxies estimated in the current Universe hasn’t changed.
Yup, the same thought occurred to me. I think we have to keep in mind that the observable universe is not the same thing as the current universe. What we'll supposedly be able to see with the next generation telescopes, which are coming online soon, will be 10-20 times more galaxies than they previously thought were out there (in the observable universe). There are fewer in the current universe (none of which we can see; everything we see is in the past) because of all the mergers. At least, that's what I'm getting out of this article.