300 Sextillion Stars in Universe, New Study Suggests

CBC ^ | 12/1/2010 | CBC

[Dallas59]

The night sky may be a lot starrier than we thought.

A study suggests the universe could have triple the number of stars scientists previously calculated. The new estimate is 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That's 300 sextillion.

The study questions a key assumption that astronomers often use: that most galaxies have the same properties as our Milky Way. And that's creating a bit of a stink among astronomers who want a more orderly cosmos.

[Hodar]

Good one ... LOL.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Yeah...that's 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in this universe.

[GizmosAndGadgets]

I call dibs on Sol. I’ll buy it for $1, and then charge for it’s services.

Too late, but only by a few days. Don't you hate it when that happens ;-)

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[qam1]

I think you need a math lesson

300 Sextillion is

300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

there are 6 billion people on the earth which is

6,000,000,000

A bit short of being as numerous as the stars, huh?

also

There is only 19,600,000,000,000,000 sq inches on the surface of the Earth

which means if the they were as numerous as the stars in heaven there would be 1,530,612 persons per inch.

[GizmosAndGadgets]

Wow, there's 300 of them in the Miss Universe? I've never heard them called "Sextillions" before, but I'll take 'em :-)

That's almost a year's supply!

[SamAdams76]

I am very angry about all this counting of stars. We need to stop the counting and focus on the stars that are closest to us. What we need to do is build a rocket ship that will take us to the closer stars and then from that vantage point, we can examine the next closest batch of stars, and so on.

Christopher Columbus did not obsess about how many square miles there were in North America. Instead, he focused on crossing the ocean and hitting some land. It took sometime before others eventually paid any attention to places like Iowa and Wyoming.

[citizencon]

and only the Creator knows how many universes are out there...

[BenKenobi]

Umm, no.

He’s talking about long and short, and Canadians use short billions like the US does.

[West Texas Chuck]

What I really want to know is where does the universe end?

And what is on the other side?

WalMart and What-A-Burger, respectively ;)

[bunkerhill7]

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[Verginius Rufus]

I wasn't serious about metric. It may be from a Canadian source, but I don't know if the author is an American or a Canadian. It must be the American version of "sextillion."

I think the British equivalent for the same number would be 900 thousand trillion, which doesn't sound as awe-inspiring as 900 sextillion.

One sextillion on the American system is one followed by 21 zeroes; one sextillion on the British system would be one followed by 36 zeroes, if I have it right. I know that one billion has six more zeroes than one million by the British way of counting, and I'm assuming that continues so that their one trillion has six more zeroes than their one billion.

[Verginius Rufus]

Got carried away there—I should have said 300 sextillion, not 900 sextillion. Didn’t mean to exaggerate.

[Don Corleone]

The new estimate is 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That's 300 sextillion.

Shhhhh! If the Libs ever learn that there is a number that large they will try to get the National Debt up to match it.

[BenKenobi]

Yep, you’ve done it right.

Canada’s kind of funny. They follow a hybrid system. In some ways they follow the British, in others, the Americans.

[huldah1776]

Wow, can you imagine if Abraham had been able to see all those stars? Or did it matter, since God saw them? LOL I can hear all the greenie’s heads exploding.

[starlifter]

Judaism seems to be pretty far down the list:

Religion Adherents
Christianity 2.1 billion
Islam 1.5 billion
Hinduism 900 million
Chinese traditional religion 394 million
Buddhism 376 million
Animist religions 300 million
African traditional/diasporic religions 100 million
Sikhism 23 million
Juche 19 million
Spiritism 15 million
Judaism 14 million
Baha'i 7 million
Jainism 4.2 million
Shinto 4 million
Cao Dai 4 million
Zoroastrianism 2.6 million
Tenrikyo 2 million
Neo-Paganism 1 million
Unitarian Universalism 800,000
Rastafari Movement 600,000

[Verginius Rufus]

Canada uses Celsius for temperatures and the US, of course, uses Fahrenheit, so when it is zero degrees in Fort Erie, Ontario, it’s 32 degrees across the Niagara River in Buffalo, NY. That’s why Buffalo gets so much snow—the cold Celsius air from Canada hits the warm Fahrenheit air in the US.

[JNRoberts]

Yeah, with all due repect, I think you missed my point and God’s point. He wasn’t being precise or literal.......Abraham couldn’t have a child of his own....at least he didn’t think so....then he ran ahead of God......finally he has his own...and God promised him.....you won’t have just one child.....your going to have a LOT of descendants.

Did you think it was Literal?......LOL! (sorry, I have to laugh at you)

[JNRoberts]

If you think Juche or Shinto, etc. is one of the “great” religions of the world......Ok.

While the original post was about numbers, influence is a different thing.....In the world, Christian, Islam, and Jewish relgions are at the center of the issues that we deal are now dealing with......Not so much Cao Dai.

But for numbers......u win.

[starlifter]

I don't think Juche or Shinto are “great” religions (your term, not mine).

You posted “Today, all 3 major religions claim Abraham as the “Father”......Jew, Christian, and Islam”. You missed some of the biggies.

I do agree that Islam is at the center of many issues with which we must deal.