Mythra Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Here's an interesting nugget I found recently. (and, I willfully acknowledge that this may only be news to me) But, findings from Australian Astronomers have the latest estimates of the number of stars at 70 sextillion. That's 70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That's roughly 10 stars for every grain of sand on the earth. Not too shabby for one day's work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverclear5 Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Here's an interesting nugget I found recently. (and, I willfully acknowledge that this may only be news to me) But, findings from Australian Astronomers have the latest estimates of the number of stars at 70 sextillion. That's 70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That's roughly 10 stars for every grain of sand on the earth. Not too shabby for one day's work. yep and lets be very conservative about it. If only 1/100 have planets and only 1/billion of these systems have planets that are suited for life and if the chance that it occurs on these planets then is 1/billion then the chances that we just happend by accident is.....700/1. Meaning there should be 700 planets with life on them. So life is unlikely is it??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fweethawt Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 How do they know how many grains of sand there are on the Earth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlerman Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 That's actually just the number that are visible with our current telesopes. If you include those whose light is to far away for it to have gotten to us yet, that number extends into the infinite. But with so many stars, and so many, many planets, how can we doubt that God must live on at least one of them? Isn't it the Mormon's who believe God lives near the star Beetlejuice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythra Posted January 6, 2007 Author Share Posted January 6, 2007 Isn't it the Mormon's who believe God lives near the star Beetlejuice? Oh God I hope that's satire. Although I have heard that mo's believe they will populate new planets with the very same families that they have here on earth. Those folks in SLC bring new meaning to the word gullible. Carl Sagan said something to the effect that there are so many things in the natural world that are worthy of our awe, it's a shame that we have to invent supernatural things to find inspiration. I tend to agree with him. It's a wondrous, amazing universe. I'm a little late in life to be getting interested in science, but better late than never, I guess. Oh, and Fwee: I'm pretty sure they hired somebody to count the sand. It was a government-sponsored program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlerman Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Isn't it the Mormon's who believe God lives near the star Beetlejuice? Oh God I hope that's satire. Nope, but it was a technical error on my part. He lives near the star Kolob, which I believe in in the constellation Orion. Actually, according to "Mormon theology," God does not live on Kolob. Kolob means "the first creation" and is the name of the star closest to the "residence of God." It is not God's actual residence. We learn of Kolob from Abraham's account found in The Pearl of Great Price, one of the Standard Works of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. AND I, Abraham, had the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had given unto me, in Ur of the Chaldees; And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it; And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.[1]Kolob governs all the planets which belong to the same order as the earth and is after the reckoning of the Lord's times, seasons and revolutions thereof. One revolution of Kolob is a day unto the Lord and one day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years on earth. from here: http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blkolob.htm (trippy, isn't it? ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythra Posted January 6, 2007 Author Share Posted January 6, 2007 Oh, we could have such fun if a mo fundy would come in here and attempt to convert us to the restored gospel...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Ah, good old Kolob. That's how the sneaky bastards bait us geeks, by inserting astronomy and other "scientific" material into their doctrine. It worked, too--for a while, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vigile Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 That makes my brain hurt. What if there were one planet with sentient beings representing each person here on earth? What if there were 10? I feel so insignificant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythra Posted January 7, 2007 Author Share Posted January 7, 2007 Isn't it something? Even that count of stars is only based on our current abilities to peer into the universe. It said that the actual count of stars and size of the universe could be infinite. Suprising that the creator of this staggering vastness now resorts to peeping into people's bedrooms and keeping notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShackledNoMore Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 How do they know how many grains of sand there are on the Earth? That's about the figure that mathematicians at the University of Hawaii came up with when they tackled the question. See http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=539329 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friendly Misanthrope Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Even that count of stars is only based on our current abilities to peer into the universe. It said that the actual count of stars and size of the universe could be infinite. Right now, it is pretty much accepted that the universe is indeed finite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sunpaws Posted February 1, 2007 Share Posted February 1, 2007 Isn't it the Mormon's who believe God lives near the star Beetlejuice? Oh God I hope that's satire. Yeah, it's Ford Prefect who lives somewhere in the vicinity of Beetlejuice--for any Douglas Adams fans out there. And I think the star is spelled "Betelgeuse", not that it matters... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 How do they know how many grains of sand there are on the Earth? They had grad students count them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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