An international team of astronomers, using data from the Hubble Telescope and mathematical calculations, are saying there could be as many as 10 times the number of galaxies located in the deep regions of outer space than what we previously thought existed, according to a story on space.com.

The process began by creating a 3D map of the known universe, containing between 100 and 200 billion galaxies itself, and applied new mathematical models based on the data that would calculate where galaxies that haven’t yet been found may exist.

The numbers suggest there are at least ten times as many galaxies out there, but our current technology doesn’t allow us to find them, because they are too far away and too dim to be seen with the telescopes we have available today.  The astronomers say the calculation led to the realization that “some 90% of the galaxies in the observable Universe are actually to faint and far away to be seen.”

Leader of the study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, Christopher Conselice, said in a statement, “It boggles the mind that over 90 percent of the galaxies in the universe have yet to be studied.  Who knows what interesting properties we will find when we observe these galaxies with the next generation of telescopes.”

Looking at parts of the universe that were up to 13 billion light-years away from Earth, the researchers found small, distant dwarf galaxies, that over time are likely to merge together to form larger galaxies.  Of course, looking that far away means you are looking back in time as well, as the data show what the area looked like some 13 billion years ago.

The researchers say this evidence shows a “significant evolution” has taken place throughout the history of the universe, in which the merging of these smaller galaxies dramatically lowered the total number of galaxies today.  Conselice added, “This gives us verification of the so-called top-down formation of the structure in the Universe.”

The explosion of new galaxies, containing untold new worlds, increases the chance there may be other planets out there similar to ours, with the possibilities of life.