Astronomers estimate that the universe contains an extraordinarily large number of stars, roughly on the order of 10^22 to 10^24 stars. This estimate comes from multiplying the number of stars in a typical galaxy by the number of galaxies in the observable universe. For example, the Milky Way alone has about 100 billion (10^11) stars, and there are estimated to be around 100 billion to 2 trillion (10^11 to 2×10^12) galaxies in the observable universe

. More specifically, some sources give a figure of about 200 billion trillion stars, or 2×10^23 stars, in the observable universe

. This number is so vast that it is often compared to grains of sand on a beach or cups of water in all Earth's oceans to convey its enormity. In summary:

• Stars in the Milky Way: ~100 billion (10^11)
• Number of galaxies: ~100 billion to 2 trillion (10^11 to 2×10^12)
• Estimated total stars in the observable universe: approximately 10^22 to 2×10^23 stars (200 billion trillion)

Some theoretical estimates for the entire (inflationary) universe, including unobservable parts, suggest numbers even larger, such as 10^100 stars, but these are speculative and beyond the observable universe

. Thus, the best current scientific consensus places the number of stars in the observable universe at around 200 billion trillion stars.