It is a fairly typical barred spiral with four major arms in its disk, at least one spur, and a newly discovered outer arm. Fact 3. The milky way is a spiral shaped Galaxy containing upto 400 billion stars that also includes our own star the Sun. They are among the oldest stars formed in the Milky Way region. In light of the fact that the Milky Way rotates at a rate of 168 miles per second, the actual spot you were in space an hour ago is now about 600,000 miles away. The Chinese call the Milky Way the Silver River. Fact 22. Check out these amazing facts about our massive galaxy, the Milky Way! The Milky Way holds every alien planet humans have ever spotted, and the billions more that likely exist in the galaxy. It is called dark matter, and we have yet to understand its properties. we believe that the universe consists of several hundred billion galaxies, though their estimation is a difficult 40 Interesting Facts About Milky Way Galaxy The Sun and all the planets around it are part of what is known as the Milky Way Galaxy. A barred spiral with a diameter ranging from 100, 000 to 1800,000 light years, our galactic home is estimated to contain between 100 and 400 billion stars. Milky Way is a part of a cluster of galaxies called the Local Group, which comprises about 40 galaxies. Fact 21. The Milky Way’s center can be located in the direction of Sagittarius (Right Ascension = 19h / declination = “25”) The Milky Way’s size is about 30 kilo parsecs (100,000 light years) in diameter. It takes its name from the Milky Way, the irregular luminous band of stars and gas clouds that stretches across the sky as seen from Earth. Fact 8. When she is not writing, she loves watching sci-fi movies on Netflix. Fact 7. While the Milky Way contains up to about 400 billion stars, you can only see 0.0000025% of all the stars when you look up the sky at night. Fact 37. The sun — which itself is a star — and our solar system are all part of it. The term “milky” is derived from the galaxy’s appearance from Earth – a band of light in the night sky formed from stars. 35 Fascinating Facts About the Milky Way. The stars, gas and dust of the Milky Way all orbit the centre at a rate of about 220 kilometres per second. The stars, dust, and gas of the Milky Way galaxy all orbit the center at a velocity of about 136 miles per second. Another Greek mythology says that the galaxy is the trail of ruins that the chariot of Sun God Helios left behind. Proxima Centauri is the Earth’s closest star in the Milky Way. Earth is actually situated in one of the extensions of the Milky Way, away from its center. Besides rotation around the Milky Way’s center, the stars also oscillate, or move up and down, through the galaxy’s plane. Traveling toward each other at 250,000 miles an hour, the two spiral galaxies will collide in about 5 billion years. It is estimated to contain 100–400 billion stars and at least that number of planets. It is suspected that such bars are the consequence of a galaxy drawing gas from its spirals into its heart, but as the density of the bars increase over the millennia their own gravity destroys them resulting in spirals without bars. The Milky Way began forming around 12 billion years ago and is part of a group of about 50 galaxies called the Local Group. Our solar system is a small part of the Milky Way galaxy, a collection of stars, gas and dust bound together by gravity and named for its appearance from Earth as a milky … The Local Group is, in turn, a part of a Local Supercluster, which encompasses several clusters of galaxies like the Local Group. This constant rate for all stars at different distances from the core implies the existence of a shell of dark matter surrounding our galaxy. Fact 9. © 2020 . The Milky Way travels through space at a speed of about 343 miles per second with regard to the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. The dark matter halo around the Milky Way may span as much as 2 million light years. The Milky Way Galaxy The major arms consist of the highest densities of both young and old stars; the minor arms are primarily filled with gas and pockets of star-forming activity. This galaxy is a spiral or whirl shape and home to our planet and Sun. Sources: The Milky Way Galaxy – skysurvey.org, The Ultimate List of TV Shows set in Space or on Other Planets, The Planets and Moons of Star Wars to Scale. The ancients knew about the Milky Way, but they did not know what it was exactly. They burn brighter and die out quicker. The distance of the solar system from the galactic center is about 30,000 light-years and about 20 light years from the plane of the galaxy. Optical telescopes that detect only visible light can’t penetrate the thick clouds of dust and gas. When studying the Milky Way, Astronomers must use telescopes that detect radio waves, x-rays, and infrared light. Scientists have been studying the central bulge of our galaxy and has noted that the warped shape may be due to two of our galactic neighbors. The Milky Way’s central core contains a supermassive black hole. Fact 11. Facts about Milky Way Galaxy for Kids: Our Milky Way is warped! The center of the galaxy is full of mostly old stars while the spiral arms contain newer stars. It is a fairly typical barred spiral with four major arms in its disk, at least one spur, and a newly discovered outer arm. The Milky Way is a disk that measures about 120,000 light years across, with a central bulge that has a diameter of about 12,000 light years. One Local Supercluster is about 10 million light-years from the other. Fact 18. Fact 30. It is normally referred to as Sagittarius A. Fact 10. The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy that has curved arms that spin out from its center. And that's a little less supermassive in Galactic Cred. And they illuminate those around them, making the arms more visible. Astronomers discovered it was barred (meaning the center is bar-shaped) rather than an ordinary spiral galaxy (meaning the center is a spherical bulge) in … Interesting Facts About The Milky Way Galaxy. It is currently acquiring stars from a very small galaxy called the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal, as well as gobbling up material from the Magellanic Clouds. It would take a colossal amount of energy for a star to leave the Milky Way. This revised estimate is … (Albinism), Can Squirrels Eat Almonds? Measuring some 120,000–180,000 light-years in diameter, our Solar System stays roughly 27,000 light-years away from the Galactic Center. (And Do They Mate With Other Species). Milky Way, our galaxy is full of mystery. The galaxy is also surrounded by at least 150 ancient groups of stars. Pictures of the Milky Way can only be taken from inside the galaxy. The term “milky” is derived from the galaxy’s appearance from Earth – a band of light in the night sky formed from stars. Our galaxy contains over 100 billion stars; the Bible says that God calls them all by their names (Psalms 147:4; Isaiah 40:26). The galaxy has been growing ever since. So the universe is … According to Chinese mythology, this Silver River was put by the gods to deter a herdsman who was in love with a weaver woman who used to weave clothes for them. Fact 40. (And Almond Butter), Oceanography vs Marine Biology (Are They Same or Different), 30+ Exhilarating Facts About the Solar System, Can Squirrels Eat Bread? Since the formation of the solar system, about 4.6 billion years ago, the sun and the solar system have orbited the Milky Way not more than 20 times. The Ancient Greeks also looked upon the Milky Way as a road that led to Mount Olympus. The galaxy has a halo of dark matter that makes at least 90% of its mass. The pictures you see are either artist’s impressions or images of other galaxies. We don’t know exactly, but we know it’s over 200 billion. There is an extremely thick bulge at the very center of the Milky Way. The galactic centre, which is located about 26,000 light-years from Earth, contains at least one supermassive black hole (called Sagittarius A*), and is crossed by a bar. Fact 29. Fact 1. In India, the galaxy has been referred to as Aakash Ganga. Fact 6. When it comes to our galaxy, about 90% of matter cannot be seen. Fact 33. Facts About The Milky Way Galaxy The Milky Way is about 26,000 light-years away from Galaxy Earth. Fact 34. The Milky Way Galaxy is an immense and very interesting place. Fact 39. The Milky Way has grown by merging with other galaxies through time. Fact 4. Stars must attain speeds of 1 million miles per hour faster than the 600,000 miles per hour at which objects already move around the galaxy. This literally means “Ganga of the heavens.”. The Milky Way has an invisible halo. In Latin, our galaxy is called “via lactea” which literally meant a “milky way” or “milky road.” The word “galaxy” is derived from a Greek word for “milk.” In Greek mythology, the Milky Way was created when Hera spilled her milk while suckling Heracles. 10 Interesting Facts About the Milky Way The Milky Way Galaxy is an immense and very interesting place. The oldest star in our galactic home is at least 13.6 billion years. At that speed, an object would circumnavigate Earth’s equator in about 3 minutes. The ancient Greeks referred to our galactic home as Milky Circle, which was created after some milk spilled over accidentally when Hera was feeding suckling Heracles. This is how our galaxy gets its name—the “Milky Way.” Viewed from a distance, which of course no human being has ever done, our galaxy might look a bit like M31—the “Andromeda Galaxy” shown at right.