Truth unfurled: Universe contains 20 times more galaxies than thought

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: A new study has found that universe has more than 20 times more galaxies than thought.

The study reveals that universe has a staggering two trillion galaxies, which makes the count 20 times more than previously thought, say researchers.

During the past 20 years very deep Hubble Space Telescope images have found a myriad of faint galaxies, and it was approximated that the observable universe contains about 100 billion galaxies in total.

Now, an international team led by Christopher Conselice, Professor at The University of Nottingham in the UK, has shown that the number of galaxies in our universe is at least two trillion, 20 times more than previously thought - the often quoted value of around 100 billion.

Current astronomical technology allows us to study a fraction of these galaxies - just 10 per cent. It means that over 90 per cent of the galaxies in our universe have yet to be discovered, and will only be seen once bigger and better telescopes are developed.

(With IANS inputs)