✨The Milky Way✨
Earth's local galaxy
The Milky Way 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. Our galaxy has hundreds of billions of
stars, enough gas and dust to make billions more stars, and at least ten
times as much dark matter as all the stars and gas put together; and
it's all held together by gravity.
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The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy, which means it has a rotating disc with sprial "arms" that curve out from a dense central region. -
Our solar system takes about 240 million years to orbit the Milky Way just once! -
This galaxy has many different names in various cultures. For example, it is known as the "Silver River" throughout Eastern Asia. It is also known as "Winter Street" in the Scandinavian region, as the galaxy is most clearly visible during the winter at the northern hemisphere.