## Counting Stars

Looking in all directions, how many stars are there brighter than a particular visual magnitude? Here’s an empirical formula that gives an approximation. It can be used over the range mv = +4.0 to +25.0.

$\textup{S} = 10^{-0.0003\,\textup{m}^{3} + 0.0019\,\textup{m}^{2} + 0.484\,\textup{m} + 0.795}$

where S is the approximate number of stars brighter than apparent visual magnitude m in the entire sky

Apparent Visual Magnitude# of Stars
4.0552
4.1618
4.2690
4.3772
4.4863
4.5964
4.61,077
4.71,204
4.81,345
4.91,503
5.01,679
5.11,875
5.22,094
5.32,338
5.42,611
5.52,914
5.63,253
5.73,631
5.84,051
5.94,520
6.05,042
6.15,623
6.26,271
6.36,992
6.47,794
6.58,687
6.69,681
6.710,786
6.812,015
6.913,382
7.014,900
7.116,588
7.218,464
7.320,547
7.422,860
7.525,428
7.628,278
7.731,441
7.834,949
7.938,839
8.043,152
8.147,932
8.253,229
8.359,096
8.465,592
8.572,784
8.680,743
8.789,549
8.899,287
8.9110,055
9.0121,955
9.1135,104
9.2149,627
9.3165,662
9.4183,362
9.5202,891
9.6224,431
9.7248,181
9.8274,358
9.9303,200
10.0334,965
10.1369,938
10.2408,426
10.3450,768
10.4497,330
10.5548,514
10.6604,755
10.7666,528
10.8734,349
10.9808,780
11.0890,430
11.1979,963
11.21,078,096
11.31,185,610
11.41,303,349
11.51,432,229
11.61,573,241
11.71,727,456
11.81,896,035
11.92,080,230
12.02,281,392
12.12,500,983
12.22,740,574
12.33,001,863
12.43,286,675
12.53,596,976
12.63,934,877
12.74,302,651
12.84,702,734
12.95,137,742
13.05,610,480
13.16,123,951
13.26,681,371
13.37,286,180
13.47,942,053
13.58,652,916
13.69,422,957
13.710,256,640
13.811,158,721
13.912,134,260
14.013,188,640
14.114,327,575
14.215,557,134
14.316,883,749
14.418,314,236
14.519,855,805
14.621,516,082
14.723,303,122
14.825,225,420
14.927,291,933
15.029,512,092
15.131,895,815
15.234,453,520
15.337,196,142
15.440,135,142
15.543,282,516
15.646,650,811
15.750,253,128
15.854,103,131
15.958,215,053
16.062,603,700
16.167,284,449
16.272,273,253
16.377,586,632
16.483,241,673
16.589,256,016
16.695,647,847
16.7102,435,879
16.8109,639,337
16.9117,277,932
17.0125,371,840
17.1133,941,667
17.2143,008,417
17.3152,593,453
17.4162,718,451
17.5173,405,353
17.6184,676,315
17.7196,553,644
17.8209,059,737
17.9222,217,010
18.0236,047,823
18.1250,574,401
18.2265,818,743
18.3281,802,538
18.4298,547,061
18.5316,073,074
18.6334,400,717
18.7353,549,396
18.8373,537,665
18.9394,383,103
19.0416,102,189
19.1438,710,168
19.2462,220,923
19.3486,646,831
19.4511,998,631
19.5538,285,275
19.6565,513,790
19.7593,689,134
19.8622,814,048
19.9652,888,922
20.0683,911,647
20.1715,877,479
20.2748,778,904
20.3782,605,508
20.4817,343,852
20.5852,977,352
20.6889,486,170
20.7926,847,110
20.8965,033,523
20.91,004,015,228
21.01,043,758,439
21.11,084,225,707
21.21,125,375,873
21.31,167,164,044
21.41,209,541,573
21.51,252,456,065
21.61,295,851,393
21.71,339,667,742
21.81,383,841,658
21.91,428,306,130
22.01,472,990,684
22.11,517,821,499
22.21,562,721,546
22.31,607,610,744
22.41,652,406,140
22.51,697,022,107
22.61,741,370,568
22.71,785,361,232
22.81,828,901,853
22.91,871,898,516
23.01,914,255,925
23.11,955,877,722
23.21,996,666,815
23.32,036,525,723
23.42,075,356,932
23.52,113,063,265
23.62,149,548,260
23.72,184,716,557
23.82,218,474,290
23.92,250,729,483
24.02,281,392,450
24.12,310,376,189
24.22,337,596,778
24.32,362,973,766
24.42,386,430,550
24.52,407,894,751
24.62,427,298,570
24.72,444,579,131
24.82,459,678,812
24.92,472,545,544
25.02,483,133,105

How many stars are there in our Milky Way galaxy? Between 100 and 400 billion stars. Many stars are not very luminous, and can only be seen in the immediate solar neighborhood. That is one source of uncertainty.

How many galaxies are there in the observable universe? Something like two trillion (2 × 1012).

How many stars are in the observable universe? Something like a septillion (1024). A trillion trillion!

And, just so you know, our universe is probably much larger than the volume that we can observe.

How does the Universe love thee? Let us count the stars…

References

“How many stars are in the sky?”, Space Math, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, accessed February 29, 2020, https://spacemath.gsfc.nasa.gov/weekly/6Page103.pdf.

Wikipedia contributors, “Galaxy,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Galaxy&oldid=942479372 (accessed February 29, 2020).

Wikipedia contributors, “Milky Way,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Milky_Way&oldid=942977760 (accessed February 29, 2020).