# Are there stars in intergalactic space? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2009, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408 "2009-03-31T11:28:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/21 "2009-03-31T22:48:04Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > My God! It’s full of faint ellipse-shaped clouds with brighter centers! Now, thats funny 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/22 "2009-03-31T23:11:04Z")
> [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > Well there’s a major difference between a .com site and a .gov or .org, as the computer teacher should have known. Between .gov, yes. Between .org, no. The registration process for .org is just as open as the one for .com, meaning **.org sites are not always safe.** ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/23 "2009-04-01T05:22:19Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Between .gov, yes. Between .org, no. The registration process for .org is just as open as the one for .com, meaning **.org sites are not always safe.** Ignorance fought, thank you. I thought there were restrictions for its use, but it seems that it is more of a convention. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/24 "2009-04-01T08:43:17Z")
> [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > [Yes](http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1997/02/) Thanks,thats an interesting link,as an ex S.F. fan this subject has always filled me with a sense of awe. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/25 "2009-04-01T12:51:18Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > My God! It’s full of faint ellipse-shaped clouds with brighter centers! I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/26 "2009-04-01T13:01:59Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > Um, I don’t click nondescriptive links at work, thanks. That’s just weird. The person who gave the link implicitly described it as an answer to the question asked in the OP. Would it have made you feel safer if the person had actually typed out “Here’s an answer to your question, OP”? If so, why? If the person giving the link was trying to trick you, then typing that out could easily be part of the trick. If the person giving the link had made a mistake of some kind, then the person’s typing out the description would not make him any less mistaken about his link. I can’t figure out why you would avoid the link just because an explicit description of it was not given in the post where the link was located. If there had been anything wrong with the link, an explicit description would not have fixed it. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/27 "2009-04-01T13:10:07Z")
> [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > Because [hubblesite.org](http://hubblesite.org) is likely to be porn? You will love the site of my hubble. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/28 "2009-04-01T14:36:50Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > You will love the site of my hubble. Hubba hubba. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/29 "2009-04-01T15:03:03Z")
My hubble has no stubble. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/30 "2009-04-01T15:39:29Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > The biggest and mostly closest galaxy to us is the Andromeda Galaxy. On a clear night in really dark sky you can see it. But its just this faint ellipse shaped cloud with a brighter center thats a handfull of degrees long. Nothing to write home about. Well, to be fair, its apparent size in the sky is many times that of the moon. Here is [the Andromeda Galaxy and the Moon in collage](http://www.nhn.ou.edu/%7Ejeffery/astro/astlec/lecture.html) showing their relative sizes. The moon appears only about half a degree in diameter. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/31 "2009-04-01T17:24:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Between .gov, yes. Between .org, no. The registration process for .org is just as open as the one for .com, meaning .org sites are not always safe. I thought that a .org had to have recognized nonprofit status, as recognized by one of the IRS classifications? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/32 "2009-04-01T17:33:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I thought that a .org had to have recognized nonprofit status, as recognized by one of the IRS classifications? You thought wrong. There are no such restrictions. .com, .org, and .net domains are free for anyone to register. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/33 "2009-04-01T19:22:30Z")
To confirm what psychonaut says, I registered a .org domain for my non-profit group and was not asked to show any proof of any kind. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/34 "2009-04-01T22:41:28Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I can’t figure out why you would avoid the link just because an explicit description of it was not given in the post where the link was located. If there had been anything wrong with the link, an explicit description would not have fixed it. Like so? [Safe For Work Link](http://NotReallySafeForWorkLink.com) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/35 "2009-04-01T23:02:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I thought that a .org had to have recognized nonprofit status, as recognized by one of the IRS classifications? Not in the slightest. My main example is Slashdot\*\*.org\*\*, which is owned by Sourceforge, Inc., a publicly-traded corporation. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/36 "2009-04-02T00:25:08Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > To confirm what psychonaut says, I registered a .org domain for my non-profit group and was not asked to show any proof of any kind. Yup. Every time I have registered a .com, I also buy the .org .net and whatever else is availabe and funnel them to my .com to make sure I don’t get a copycat later on. ---
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/37 "2009-04-02T13:51:35Z")
I thought the OP was whether there are detectable “orphan” stars in between the galaxies, not whether we could see individual stars in distant galaxies. Are there stars between the galaxies? Wandering or orphan ones that got spun off accidentally when the galaxies formed, perhaps? was the question wasn’t it? I guess the link says there are some. I ddin’t click on it either, since I don’t click on any links at work unless I know the destination site. ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/38 "2009-04-03T12:59:17Z")
> [@misling](#): > > I thought the OP was whether there are detectable “orphan” stars in between the galaxies, not whether we could see individual stars in distant galaxies. > > Are there stars between the galaxies? Wandering or orphan ones that got spun off accidentally when the galaxies formed, perhaps? Yes he was, and yes there are. But you’re just going to have to take my word on it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/39 "2009-04-03T13:45:28Z")
Yes, keep beating that horse. It might not _really_ be dead. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408/40 "2009-04-03T15:23:26Z")
As the universe expands, galaxies move farther apart. So how is it possible that two galaxies would ever collide? Anyway, suppose two do collide-would some starts get ripped away and flung out into empty space? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-stars-in-intergalactic-space/491408.md?page=3)