How many stars are in the Milky Way?
Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way contains about 100 billion to 400 billion stars. The exact number is hard to count because dust hides much of the galaxy from view.
Scientists estimate the number of stars by measuring the galaxy's mass and how bright it is, then working out how many stars of different sizes would produce those results. Many stars are small, dim red dwarfs that are hard to see even with telescopes, which makes counting difficult.
The European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft has measured the positions and motions of nearly 2 billion stars, the most detailed map of the Milky Way ever made, but that is still only about 1 percent of the total.
Stars you can see
With the naked eye, under perfect dark skies, a person can see only about 2,500 stars at any one time. Light pollution in cities reduces that to a few dozen bright stars.
Did You Know?
Most stars in the Milky Way probably have planets. Astronomers have confirmed more than 6,000 exoplanets so far.