The Milky Way is a vast barred spiral galaxy that spans between 100,000 to 200,000 light-years in diameter and contains hundreds of billions of stars, including our Sun. It is home to planets, nebulae, and star clusters, all orbiting around a supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A* at its center. Our solar system resides in the Orion Arm, about 27,000 light-years from the galactic core. The Milky Way is constantly evolving, with new stars forming from cosmic dust and gas while older ones reach the end of their life cycles, contributing to the dynamic and ever-changing nature of our galaxy.