Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

How do scientists estimate the number of galaxies in the universe?

seo-qna
SearchIcon
Answer
VerifiedVerified
427.5k+ views
Hint: In the universe how many galaxies are there? It feels like an impossible task to count them. A telescope must have a wide aperture (the diameter of the primary mirror or lens) and be positioned above the atmosphere in order to minimize distortion of the Earth’s air in order to get the best view.

Complete answer:
Hubble is the best tool available for galaxy counting and estimation, to the best of a scientists’ experience. Initially, the telescope, unveiled in \[1990\] , had distortion on its main mirror which was repaired during a \[1993\] shuttle visit. Hubble shows an estimated \[100\] billion galaxies in the universe or so, but as telescope technology in space progresses, this figure is expected to rise to around \[200\] billion, he told Space.com. Hubble shows an estimated \[100\] billion galaxies in the universe or so, but as telescope technology in space advances, this figure is expected to grow to around \[200\] billion, he told Space.com.
Scientists have observed the most distant of galaxies scratching the edge of the light horizon using instruments including the Hubble Space Telescope. The light horizon is the place where light has not entered us beyond it, the mass of the universe is often used by scientists to measure the number of galaxies within our observable universe.

Note: For now, scientists agree that the visible universe has \[200\] billion galaxies in it. We will never know, however, how many galaxies are in the universe, because light from the galaxies has not yet reached us and will never have due to the exponential expansion of the universe.