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The Hubble Space Telescope’s 3D modeling has estimated that there are around two trillion galaxies in the universe, far more than the previous estimate of 100-200 billion. The majority of galaxies have yet to be studied, and future telescopes may reveal interesting properties.
A galaxy contains billions of stars, held together by gravity. Within each galaxy, there are planetary systems, such as Earth and its neighboring planets within the Milky Way. But ours is just one galaxy in an astronomical sea of stars that stretches farther than the most powerful telescopes can see. We’ll probably never know how many galaxies exist, but 3D modeling by the Hubble Space Telescope over 20 years has provided a new estimate, published in The Astronomical Journal. In 2016, astronomers studied computer-enhanced images of deep space and determined that there are probably about two trillion galaxies in the universe, far more than the previous estimate of between 100 and 200 billion galaxies.
Galaxies far, far away:
Hubble Deep Field imaging of the mid-1990s gave scientists their first analysis of galaxies, and Hubble’s Ultra Deep Field in 2004 added a plethora of faint galaxies, leading to an estimated 200 billion galaxies.
The latest analysis of deep space images from Hubble converted the images to 3-D. Using mathematical models, scientists have been able to infer the existence of galaxies that current telescopes cannot see.
“It is astonishing that more than 90% of the galaxies in the universe have yet to be studied,” wrote the University of Nottingham astronomers. “Who knows what interesting properties we will find… with the next generation of telescopes?”
