# Approximately how many galaxies are there in our universe?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/approximately-how-many-galaxies-are-there-in-our-universe/202772>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 20, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/approximately-how-many-galaxies-are-there-in-our-universe/202772 "2003-09-20T06:08:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/approximately-how-many-galaxies-are-there-in-our-universe/202772/21 "2003-09-20T19:39:35Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \*  
> \*\*No. Or rather, yes…but. When a cosmologist refese to the universe as being infinte, he means he believes it to be flat, an therefore will expand forever. He does not mean it is infinite in extent. \*\*

Nope QED infinte and flat aren’t the same thing, you can have a flat universe of finite spatial extent, our universe is thought to be of infinite spatial extent.

An open universe is a Friedmann-Lemaitre cosomological model in which space is infinte and of negative (Euclidian) curvature and will contiune to exapnd.

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**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/approximately-how-many-galaxies-are-there-in-our-universe/202772/22 "2003-09-20T20:39:06Z")

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Squink quotes Alan Hunt, a cosmologist (apparently), as saying the universe evolved from just 25 pounds of mass, and nobody here bats an eye.

Oy!

I guess I should be glad none of you has mentioned the possibility of an infinite number of other universes.

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**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/approximately-how-many-galaxies-are-there-in-our-universe/202772/23 "2003-09-20T22:05:32Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Antiochus \*  
> \*\*Okay, if the Universe is finite, does it mean that expansion will someday stop?
> 
> What do the cosmologists suggest is at the outermost fringe?
> 
> What happens to the galaxies when they reach this boundary? \*\*

As I said before the current cosmological model has the universe as infinte and forever expanding, there are sevral models, one which used to favoured up until a few years ago (hence the confusion) where the universe is spatially finite and the curvature of the universe means it forms a sort of hypersphere, in otherwords it has no centre or edges.

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