The Milky Way Galaxy



If you could see our galaxy from the side, it would look like a huge, thin disk with a slight bump in the center. This flat shape is caused by the galaxy spinning around. Everything in our spinning galaxy would fly off into space if it weren’t for the force of gravity.

Without a telescope, we can see about 6,000 stars from Earth. That may seem like a lot of stars, but it’s actually only a small part of the whole. If you think of the entire galaxy as a giant pizza, all the stars you can see from Earth fall within about one pepperoni on that pizza. In fact, for every star you can see, there are more than 20 million you cannot see. Most of the stars are too faint, too far away or blocked by clouds of cosmic dust.
Picture the solar system- The Milky Way Galaxy
Milky Way as seen from the side
Our solar system is here! Milky Was as seen from below
The Milky Way Galaxy The Milky Way Galaxy The Mikly Way Galaxy
Our solar system is here!
Milky Way as seen from below
Milky Way as seen from below
Milky Way as seen from below
Milky Way as seen from below
Milky Way as seen from EarthThe Milky Way is a huge collection of stars, dust and gas. It’s called a spiral galaxy because if you could view it from the top, it would look like a spinning pinwheel. The Sun is located on one of the spiral arms, about 25,000 light-years away from the center of the galaxy. Even if you could travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), it would take you about 25,000 years to reach the middle of the Milky Way. The Milky Way gets its name from a Greek myth about the goddess Hera who sprayed milk across the sky. In other parts of the world, our galaxy goes by other names. In China it’s called the “Silver River,” and in the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa, it’s called the “Backbone of Night.”
Astronomers estimate that there are more than 100 BILLION stars in our galaxy. How to write a Billion
Astronomers estimate that there are more than 100 BILLION stars in our galaxy.
How much is a Billion? Astronomers estimate that there are more than 100 BILLION stars in our galaxy.
Q & A with Astronomer Julianne Dalcanton
Astronomers estimate that there are more than 100 BILLION stars in our galaxy. Astronomers estimate that there are more than 100 BILLION stars in our galaxy. More or less than a Billion?
Astronomers estimate that there are more than 100 BILLION stars in our galaxy.