[irrational]

I was surprised to learn recently that we can only see 5,000 stars from Earth with the naked eye.

[Blammar]

Depends on your definition of "star." You can see the Andromeda galaxy with your naked eye (as well as the galactic center.)

[PaulDavisThe1st]

True, but IIUC, that's the only object you can see in the sky that is not a part of our galaxy.

[zuminator]

The Magellanic clouds are also visible to the naked eye.

[irrational]

But you don’t see individual stars. When I have been out in the middle of nowhere and looked at the Andromeda galaxy, it just looks like a smudge. You need a telescope to really realize it is made up of many individual stars.

[CSSer]

Is that even in the best conditions i.e. a dark site?

[croes]

Yes

https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-blogs/how-many-stars-n...

[CSSer]

Super cool! Thank you for sharing.