Milky Way Galaxy

Solar system's galaxy

The Milky Way Galaxy is the spiral galaxy containing our solar system, visible from Earth as a hazy band of light stretching across the night sky.

This luminous streak—which inspired the name, from its milky appearance—consists of billions of stars too distant to distinguish individually.

The galaxy contains an estimated 100 to 400 billion stars, with our sun located in one of its spiral arms, about 26,000 light-years from the galactic center.

starsLuminous celestial bodies
telescopesOptical magnifying instruments
universeComplete system or domain
cosmic dustMicroscopic particles pervading space
spiral armsWinding bands of stars

dark matter · star clusters · Hubble Space Telescope · supermassive black hole · planets · Cepheid variables · James Webb Space Telescope · Hera · Greek mythology · night sky · star formation · radio astronomy · nebulae · black holes · disk · pulsars · astrophotography · observatories

Opposites

local vs. external galaxies

Milky Way GalaxyAndromeda Galaxy

Nearest major spiral neighbor

Magellanic Clouds · quasars

cosmic structure hierarchy

Milky Way Galaxyobservable universe

Region light has reached us from

solar system · void · planet · star · galaxy cluster

galactic structure type

Milky Way Galaxydwarf galaxy

Small, dim stellar grouping

Family

Galaxy, milk, milks, milked, milking, milky, milkiness, milkier, milkiest

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Profile: Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Positive · Everyday, not technical · Rated G