Universe May Have Billions More Stars

[jayfish]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7519435/Universe-may-have-billions-more-stars.html

Astronomers have underestimated the number of galaxies in parts of the Universe by as much as 90 per cent, according to a study, suggesting billions of stars are yet to be recorded. Map-makers may have missed the galaxies because surveys of the cosmos are based on a reading of ultraviolet light.

The study by scientists at the University of Geneva observatory, reported in the journal, Nature, says the survey method is a poor indicator of distant galaxies because the light can be blocked by clouds of dust and gas. Matthew Hayes, who led the study, said: “Astronomers always knew they were missing some fraction of the galaxies ... but for the first time we now have a measurement. The number of missed galaxies is substantial.

I wonder what this does to estimates of the amount of dark matter in the Universe. 90% is a hefty amount of mass.

FSH

[thereismore]

1. I think this makes the "dark energy" problem worse, because now that there is

more actual mass, we still need to account for accelerated expansion of the universe, which means more dark energy is needed.