What is the number of heavenly bodies discernible with the naked eye on a clear night without light pollution?

Question

I'm really interested in the number. Serious answers please.

Citing an authoritative source for your answer would be highly appreciated.

Thank you.

Answer 1

No idea, but here's a star ;D

Why didn't the answerer above cite the sources of their direct quote;

http://answers.google.com/answers/thread...

Or is it them again there?

Just wonderin'

Answer 2

here ya go.... start counting..... fish=eye lens, on the MilkyWay.... you'll be a while....clik on it to enlarge it....

http://homepages.wmich.edu/~korista/star...

http://homepages.wmich.edu/~korista/star...

that's both northern and southern hemispheres.... have fun!...

Answer 3

Everyone's eyes differ, but a figure of around 6000 visible stars is

often quoted (with around half visible from any point on earth). At

sea level in a rural area you might see around 2000, and in an urban

area you might be lucky to see 20.

You can't count the stars directly. Due to the rotation of the earth,

more keep appearing on one side and disappearing from the other. As

atmospheric conditions change, some stars become visible and some

become invisible. Instead, people look through a tube, count the stars

in that field of view, and scale that figure up to obtain an estimate

for the total.

If you want a specific number, The Yale Bright Star Catalog catalogs

the "naked eye visible stars", which they consider to be those with a

magnitude of 6.5 or brighter. Those have been catalogued and listed,

and there are 9110 entries in that list:

   The Bright Star Catalog

   http://www.alcyone.de/SIT/bsc/

But if you want to see all of them, you'll need ideal conditions: good

eyes, several high altitude viewpoints in different parts of the

earth, a moonless night, no aurora, and air that is absolutely still,

clear and dry.

Answer 4

With naked eye or using a telescope?