How many galaxies are there in the universe?

Question

How many galaxies are there in the universe?

Answer 1

Your inquiry is definitely in the minds of many scientists who are trying to obtain a good estimate for the number of galaxies in the universe. The methods used to achieve such number varies, and therefore, the results would vary, too. Also, as new and improved technology becomes available, astronomers can detect fainter objects that were not seen before. These objects that have come into view will in turn change the estimated number of galaxies.

For example, in 1999 the Hubble Space Telescope estimated that there were 125 billion galaxies in the universe, and recently with the new camera HST has observed 3,000 visible galaxies, which is twice as much as they observed before with the old camera. We're emphasizing "visible" because observations with radio telescopes, infrared cameras, x-ray cameras, etc. would detect other galaxies that are not detected by Hubble. As observations keep on going and astronomers explore more of our universe, the number of galaxies detected will increase. For more about the Hubble Space Telescope, check out this web site

Answer 2

There are probably more than 100 billion (1011) galaxies in the observable universe. Most galaxies are 1,000 to 100,000[4] parsecs in diameter and are usually separated by distances on the order of millions of parsecs (or megaparsecs). Intergalactic space (the space between galaxies) is filled with a tenuous gas of an average density less than one atom per cubic meter. The majority of galaxies are organized into a hierarchy of associations called clusters, which, in turn, can form larger groups called superclusters. These larger structures are generally arranged into sheets and filaments, which surround immense voids in the universe.

Although it is not yet well understood, dark matter appears to account for around 90% of the mass of most galaxies. Observational data suggests that supermassive black holes may exist at the center of many, if not all, galaxies. They are proposed to be the primary cause of active galactic nuclei found at the core of some galaxies. The Milky Way galaxy appears to harbor at least one such object within its nucleus.

Answer 3

In the observable part, a hundred or so billion. This is estimated from the Hubble deep field pictures. We saw thousands of galaxies in that picture, all from a patch of sky no bigger than a rice grain held at arm's length. If you extrapolate that to the whole sky, you come up with something on the order of hundreds of billions.

Bear in mind, however, that we're only talking about galaxies in the observable universe i.e. the part that we can see. It's likely that the actual universe is much, much bigger than our observable bit. Given that it is pretty uniformly distributed with galaxies, that makes for a number far bigger than a hundred billion.

Answer 4

there are countless galaxies in the universe..

some of these galaxies arent found yet by the scientists.. it is bcuz they are so far away..

when we see a galaxy.. it is lyk seeing our past since the light from that galaxy started a long time ago and just reached us now bcuz if the great space between us and the galaxy...

but there are countless galaxies..

some are small and some are big...

hope this helped

Answer 5

roughly we know of 125 billion currently.....  

Answer 6

Your inquiry is definitely in the minds of many scientists who are trying to obtain a good estimate for the number of galaxies in the universe. The methods used to achieve such number varies, and therefore, the results would vary, too. Also, as new and improved technology becomes available, astronomers can detect fainter objects that were not seen before. These objects that have come into view will in turn change the estimated number of galaxies.

For example, in 1999 the Hubble Space Telescope estimated that there were 125 billion galaxies in the universe, and recently with the new camera HST has observed 3,000 visible galaxies, which is twice as much as they observed before with the old camera. We're emphasizing "visible" because observations with radio telescopes, infrared cameras, x-ray cameras, etc. would detect other galaxies that are not detected by Hubble. As observations keep on going and astronomers explore more of our universe, the number of galaxies detected will increase. For more about the Hubble Space Telescope, check out this web site: