# There are more stars in the sky... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 3, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-more-stars-in-the-sky/604955 "2011-12-03T16:53:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-more-stars-in-the-sky/604955/1 "2011-12-03T16:53:59Z")
…than there are grains of sand on all the beaches and deserts of the earth. Here’s a more interesting question (in my mundane pointless opinion)… Are there more stars in the sky that there are smart-ass comments on all the message boards of the internet? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-more-stars-in-the-sky/604955/2 "2011-12-03T17:16:53Z")
There were before you started this thread. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-more-stars-in-the-sky/604955/3 "2011-12-03T17:49:22Z")
All the smart-ass comments on the Internet? Not sure. All the dumbass comments on the Internet? I think those outweigh the stars ten to one. Just Youtube and 4chan put together would likely add up to the number of stars in the universe. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-more-stars-in-the-sky/604955/4 "2011-12-03T19:40:35Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > …than there are grains of sand on all the beaches and deserts of the earth. Well, here’s a smartass comment: No, there aren’t. There may be more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the Earth but the number of stars IN THE SKY, e.g. that you can see from the Earth, is quite a small fraction of the number of graisn of sand on any one beach. Even if you count the Milky Way’s stars as stars you can see it’s not even a close call. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-more-stars-in-the-sky/604955/5 "2011-12-03T20:26:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Well, here’s a smartass comment: > > No, there aren’t. > > There may be more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the Earth but the number of stars IN THE SKY, e.g. that you can see from the Earth, is quite a small fraction of the number of graisn of sand on any one beach. Even if you count the Milky Way’s stars as stars you can see it’s not even a close call. Nope. If the question is “how many chocolates are in this box”, the proper answer isn’t “None, because the box is closed and I can’t see any.” Now, if the term “…as seen with the naked eye” had been added, you’d be right. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-more-stars-in-the-sky/604955/6 "2011-12-04T03:42:42Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Nope. If the question is “how many chocolates are in this box”, the proper answer isn’t “None, because the box is closed and I can’t see any.” Now, if the term “…as seen with the naked eye” had been added, you’d be right. Does this have something to do with cats in boxes? Speaking of cats, are there more cats on the internet than stars in the sky? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-more-stars-in-the-sky/604955/7 "2011-12-04T15:51:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Nope. If the question is “how many chocolates are in this box”, the proper answer isn’t “None, because the box is closed and I can’t see any.” Now, if the term “…as seen with the naked eye” had been added, you’d be right. But “the sky” is, by definition, the atmosphere and outer space as perceived from the Earth. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-more-stars-in-the-sky/604955/8 "2011-12-04T16:00:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > But “the sky” is, by definition, the atmosphere and outer space as perceived from the Earth. Since when? Is this an astronomical term?