How Many Stars Are There?

ERROR IN VIDEO - There are up to 200 BILLION stars in our galaxy...not 200 million.

How many stars are there in the universe? This question leads Hank to a couple other questions - How many stars can we see from Earth? How many stars are there in our galaxy? - but the answer to the original question proves elusive.

References:

[QuantumBraced]

I can't believe it but I think you guys made a pretty significant order of magnitude error - there are 200-400 BILLION stars in the Milky Way, not mllion.

[hipster_valdez]

"definitely a number greater than I can conceive."

For me this thought is more awe-inspiring to entertain than that of any sort of creator.

[Samplehorse]

What if at the beginning of the video he just Leaned in and said "A lot." And the video ended?

[SciShow]

Thank you for the correction! Added an annotation and a quick fix in the description. STUPID LETTERS / NUMBERS!

[joachimschoder]

And some people still believe that the Universe was created just to serve mankind.

[timbatchelor]

What I think the number of stars in the Milky Way is wrong. I mean the andromeda Galaxy contains 1 trillion stars and the Galaxy its self is 250, 000 LY across and the Milky Way Is around 100, 000 LY in sure the Milky Way would have at least a couple 100 billion stars

[johnharris]

Regarding the comments below concerning the estimated number of stars in our galaxy, yes it's 200 billion not million. Thank you.

[Rationalific]

I like 1:22, when you said, "There are more than 200 million stars! 200 million!!" It's funny because the actual number as you corrected this video with is 1, 000 times that number. The human mind has no trouble understanding the difference between 1 and 1, 000, but often mixes up amounts just as disparate (or even much moreso), like 1 million and 1 billion.

[Annadog]

There is no can't in science! There is only not yet!

[AidanBColes]

I love how I immediately know what episode you're talking about... I believe that the Daleks had some sort of plan set up for that.

[rohitjudo]

I'm here from the new SciShow space video "How many galaxies are there?"

[TheFaNgEdShAdOw]

In my high school senior year I took Astronomy. This was one of the few classes where I put my all into the work and paid the most attention in class. I learned more about anything in that class than in my entire high school career. It romanticized Doctor Who to me and Star Trek became my newest obsession. Thanks to my Astro teacher I got out of depression and ignited my passion for science again.

[Zamolxes]

1:09 "..and Uranus is visible with your naked eye ...." Yes, indeed, if I'm naked hehhee.

[LiamWilkinstheoneandonly]

Check out the scishow on leap seconds. it discusses how we measure a second (by oscillations in an atom) But the second half of the question, as I believe, brings about a more philosophical meaning. It is a question to be pondered and debated, with no defined answer (and probably never will have one), just speculation and theory.

[scottwill]

I hope he means 200-400 billion instead of million stars in the milky way. And not exceptionally large? Well the milky way is larger than average ill tell you that much.

[RickySTT]

On visible lights in the sky:
- Neptune is about magnitude 8. You can't see it with the naked eye.
- OTOH, the asteroid Vesta is sometimes visible.
- There are several galaxies way brighter than M81 that you missed, and have actually been seen by more than like one or two people with exceptional eyesight: the Triangulum Pinwheel (M33), the Small Magellanic Cloud, the Large Magellanic Cloud, and (of course) the Milky Way.

[audioxplorer]

I am very curious about the fundamental questions in life. That is why I watch videos like these and read books and listen to peoples theories and opinions. I just don't rely on them to give me comfort and help me through life. I get comfort and peace through being with family and friends and by trying to hold myself to a high moral standard by trying to help other people feel fulfilled. And I really don't think life is for anything. I just try to make the best of it.

[iancuypers]

The univers NEVER it cant end because if it did there would be nothing & nothing CANT EXIST

[chibiyumeusa]

You're very welcome. I can understand your initial frustration. There's so much misinformation out there, it's good to always call it out when you can.

[AmericanHero]

This video is broken, You can't get mixed up numbers on that scale - do it again.