Appreciation post: That one stat about how many stars are in a typical galaxy

I saw on a space forum that the average galaxy has around 100 billion stars. Made me feel tiny in a good way. Anyone else get that from looking at photos?

3 comments

3 Comments

barbaraschmidt1mo ago

Gotta say I don't really get the whole existential awe thing from a number. 100 billion stars sounds big but then you remember most of them are dead or boring rocks. Plus that stat changes every few years anyway, last I heard some estimates put it way lower. Feels like a lot of handwringing over a factoid that'll be outdated by next week.

felixw682mo ago

Hits you right in the feels, doesn't it.

laura_white992mo ago

Nah, I'm actually kind of tired of this whole "feels" angle people keep pushing. It's just a movie/game/song, not some deep life-changing moment that deserves all this over-the-top emotion. Honestly, if this is what gets you choked up, you've probably got some other stuff going on that's way more worth your energy.