#Stars December 23

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Throughout December 2024, several of us are taking part in the 30-Day PPT Coach4aday Challenge. PPT is an acronym for People Places or Things. Each day we share our insights, thoughts, or memories about a person (living or dead), a place (we have visited or learned about) or a thing that intrigues us. Today I’m featuring the STARS in the sky.

The winter months in the Northern Hemisphere are the best times to look at stars in the sky. One reason is that cold, dry winter air tends to be less humid, resulting in a clearer atmosphere with less light scattering. This means stars appear brighter and more distinct. 

If you read about the number of stars, you will often encounter a wide range of numbers. It can be staggering and hard to comprehend.

People, Places, & Things 30-Day Challenge Guidelines

Like previous challenges there are no hard and fast rules to participate. There are a few suggested guidelines

1. Each day in December 2024 write about a Person, Place or Thing-PPT
2. Share at least one fact, memory, or quality about your subject choice.
3. If so inclined use the hash tag #Coach4adayChallenge on social media platforms

December 23rd-Stars

Back in May 2024 my fellow 30-Day Challenge friend and participant Jaclyn Donovan posted what is written below. It still is staggering to me.

The number of stars in the Milky Way is probably higher than the number of humans that have ever been born.

Ask an astronomer how many stars there are in the Milky Way and the answer will range from ‘hundreds of billions’ to an approximate value: ‘about 100 billion’; ‘300 billion’; ‘500 billion’. There must be a correct answer, so why does the value vary so much?

Unfortunately, figuring out the number of stars in our Galaxy isn’t just a matter of counting. Most of the Milky Way is obscured from view and the regions we do see are so vast and distant that individual stars aren’t readily identified, even with powerful telescopes. Determining the population of the Galaxy relies upon observations, assumptions and informed estimates.

Curiously, anthropologists are more confident about the total number of human beings that have ever lived – about 110 billion. So, we can say that there are probably more stars in the Galaxy than every human that has ever been born!