Whoa! Why the universe is more crowded than we thought

Scientists believe the universe may have 10 times the number of galaxies than previously thought. New research and new mathematical models suggests there's a lot more stuff out there, but we cannot see it.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Researchers from a team of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have created a new 3D map of the universe. According to their work, the universe has ten times more galaxies than we can see.

The conclusion comes from looking back in time to the edge of space, and measuring the number of galaxies they can observe. They found the density of galaxies in the early universe was much higher. Over time, those galaxies merged to make larger galaxies. This helps explain the discrepancy between the mass of the universe and the disturbing lack of visible matter. 

But if the universe is so packed with galaxies, then why can't we see them? This paradox, known as "Olber's Paradox" has a solution. Scientists think there is an abundance of dust and gas in the universe which absorbs much of the radiation emitted by these galaxies. That dust and gas reemits the radiation at other wavelengths we can detect.

As a result, the now model suggests the universe started out with lots of matter that eventually clumped  into many tiny galaxies. Those galaxies merged to form larger ones. There are ten to twenty times more galaxies out there than we can see, but their radiation is absorbed by dust and gas, which reemit the radiation in other wavelengths.

Therefore, Earth is in fact bathed in radiation from all of these galaxies, but it isn't in the visible wavelength. This is why we can't see all of the galaxies with the naked eye.

If this solution it true, then it could help explain the mystery of dark matter. Dark matter is unknown material in the universe which allows the universe to remain together. Scientists recognize that we can only see a fraction of the universe and there must be more matter, otherwise the universe would fly apart. There is some cosmic glue holding the universe together, and this is gravity which comes from the many galaxies which we cannot see.

Scientists are still unsure. The findings are the product of just one study and will need to be reviewed. Experiments will need to be repeated. The James Webb Space Telescope, which will be launched in 2018, will see even more galaxies than Hubble and can help to confirm, or nullify, this dramatic new hypothesis for the number of galaxies in the universe.

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