The Milky Way wasn’t always as it is today – a beautiful, warped spiral. It became its current size and shape by eating up other galaxies, and is still doing so today. In fact, theCanis Major Dwarf Galaxyis the closest galaxy to the Milky Way because its stars are currently being a...
far away, it would read something like, "561 Lilac Crest Lane, Coopersville, Washington 99362, United States, Planet Earth, third planet from the sun, Orion Arm, Milky Way galaxy." As a galactic resident, you may find it useful to know a few facts on the Milky Way to raise ...
We have written many articles about the Milky Way for Universe Today. Here are somefacts about the Milky Way, and here’s an article about thestars in the Milky Way. We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast about galaxies. Listen here,Episode 97: Galaxies....
The Milky Way galaxy is theorized to have formed through either a 'top-down' process, where a single gas cloud undergoes a monolithic gravitational flattening, or the 'bottom-up' prediction where smaller clusters formed to a larger galaxy structure. Explore these two theories on the formation ...
Suffice it to say, the galaxy has almost always been associated with that white creamy substance we know as milk. The current English name of the Milky Way Galaxy originates way back in the time of the ancient Greeks, who, upon looking up at this distinct light-colored patch highlighted ag...
Introduced inStar Trek V: The Final Frontier, the Great Barrier was an energy field that surrounded the very center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Although probes had been sent into the Barrier, none had ever returned, leading Starfleet to believe that the Barrier could not be crossed. After seeing...
Our Location in the Milky Way Our solar systemis located about two-thirds of the way out from the center of the galaxy, between two of the spiral arms. This is actually a great place to be. Being in the central bulge would not be preferential as the star density is much higher and ...
How to See the Milky Way Galaxy in New York There are roughly100 billion planetsin our Milky Way galaxy, and while that number seems utterly incomprehensible, it starts to make more sense once the Milky Way comes into view. A trip to the Adirondack Mountains could be all any New Yorker ...
A stream of material from the Magellanic Clouds seems to have entered the Milky Way and left behind some foreign stars.
Our Galaxy Facts Our solar system is located in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy’s spiral arm The Milky Way galaxy is approximately 100,000 light-years in diameter It takes our solar system approximately 230 million years to complete one orbit around the rotational center of the Milky...