Milky Way - Wikipedia
The Milky Way [c] is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye.
The Milky Way Galaxy - NASA Science
Nov 8, 2017 · Using infrared images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists have discovered that the Milky Way's elegant spiral structure is dominated by just two arms wrapping off the ends of a central bar of stars. Previously, our galaxy was thought to …
Solar System, Galaxy, Universe: What’s the Difference? - Science@NASA
Jun 1, 2017 · Many people are not clear about the difference between our Solar System, our Milky Way Galaxy, and the Universe. Let’s look at the basics. Our Solar System consists of our star, the Sun, and its orbiting planets (including Earth), along with numerous moons, asteroids, comet material, rocks, and dust.
Milky Way Galaxy | Size, Definition, & Facts | Britannica
Dec 27, 2024 · Milky Way Galaxy (sometimes simply called the Galaxy), large spiral system of about several hundred billion stars, one of which is the Sun. It takes its name from the Milky Way, the irregular luminous band of stars and gas clouds …
Milky Way galaxy: Facts about our cosmic neighborhood | Space
Apr 18, 2023 · Just as Earth orbits the sun, the solar system orbits the center of the Milky Way. Despite hurtling through space at speeds of around 515,000mph (828,000kmph) our solar system takes...
News & Resources | Night Sky Network - NASA
Mar 31, 2013 · Our Solar System consists of our star, the Sun, and its orbiting planets (including Earth), along with numerous moons, asteroids, comet material, rocks, and dust. Our Sun is just one star among the hundreds of billions of stars in our Milky Way Galaxy.
Milky Way Galaxy - Structure, Dynamics, Stars | Britannica
Dec 27, 2024 · The Milky Way Galaxy’s structure is fairly typical of a large spiral system. (Spiral galaxies and other types of galaxies are described in the article galaxy .) This structure can be viewed as consisting of six separate parts: (1) a nucleus, (2) a central bulge, (3) a disk (both a thin and a thick disk), (4) spiral arms, (5) a spherical ...
Solar System Facts - Science@NASA
Our solar system is located in the Milky Way, a barred spiral galaxy with two major arms, and two minor arms. Our Sun is in a small, partial arm of the Milky Way called the Orion Arm, or Orion Spur, between the Sagittarius and Perseus arms. Our solar system orbits the center of the galaxy at about 515,000 mph (828,000 kph).
The Milky Way Galaxy - Imagine the Universe!
Sep 23, 2021 · Our Sun (a star) and all the planets around it are part of a galaxy known as the Milky Way Galaxy. A galaxy is a large group of stars, gas, and dust bound together by gravity. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
The Milky Way Galaxy - Harvard–Smithsonian Center for …
Today, astronomers study the Milky Way to understand its history, structure, contents, and our place in the galaxy. Like most other large galaxies, the Milky Way harbors a supermassive black hole at its center. Known as Sagittarius A* — abbreviated as Sgr A* — this galaxy is about four million times the mass of the Sun.