How many stars are in the universe?

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Outer-space is considered infinitely big, meaning that even if it does end somewhere, that place is so far away that we’ll probably never know it exists! In order to study about outer-space more easily, scientists divide it up into “galaxies,” which refer to the groupings of millions of stars and particles of dust and gas that are all in one place together. Earth, for example, is in the Milky Way galaxy.  

When it comes to how many stars there are in the universe, it’s impossible to know any kind of exact number since the universe is really just that big! In the Milky Way galaxy alone, scientists estimate that there are between 100-200 billion stars!

Estimates for how many stars there are in the entire universe change as our technology to figure it out changes too. Usually, the estimates are calculated by multiplying the number of stars believed to be in the average galaxy by the number of galaxies in the known universe, which is 80-100 billion. – Using research applied to formulas like these, many researchers are currently saying there are somewhere from 10 to 70 sextillion stars in the universe, but could easily end up soon realizing that it's even more!

Think Big!

It can be very difficult to imagine the size of things like the number of stars in the universe! 

To get a better grasp on it, think about some things that are really big, and then try to break them down into smaller units that are easier to understand. For example, if you have a Piggy Bank with 100 pennies in it, try counting them out into piles of ten each. The 100 pennies might be much easier to understand as ten piles of ten!

What are some other ways in which you can apply this same idea?