Stars

[Bazile]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that there are more stars in the universe , than there are grains of sand in the world

Can this possible be correct , or am I totally mistaken ?
I suspect , the latter

[Loosehead]

Although It's difficult to quantify, I beleive the number of stars in the universe is of that order. Although estimating the number of grains of sand is not easy either! We know that there are of the order of 4-5 Billion stars in our own galaxy, and that's just one of billions itself.

[dawkins]

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/ast99/as t99215.htm

[mibn2cweus]

I believe this is quite possibly correct but before you begin counting I think an even better trick would be to find a star in our universe with a planet in orbit around it that has an intellligent form of life?

[Bazile]

We are talking about unimagineable numbers of stars - aren't we ?

Also unimagineable , is the size of the universe , given that there is huge distances between the stars in our galaxy alone - never mind between galaxies - yes ?

Loosehead - according to the link below from dawkins , there appears to be a few more stars in our galaxy than you have stated - which figure is correct ?

mibn2cweus - Given the number of stars out there , there must be one at least with a planet , that has intelligent life - would you agree ?

Another thing that I have always wondered , is why is it that astronomers always appear to assume that if there is life on other planets , it would have evolved with the same physiology as humans .
Surely it is possible that other life forms might have evolved in enviroments that would be lethal to humans ?

[mibn2cweus]

. . . where there's life there's hope . . .