In the past, astronomers thought that the Milky Way had four major “arms” that stretched out around the galaxy, however, we now know that there are only two major arms that are at the ends of the stars in the central bar area, and two minor arms. Everything in the Milky Way orbits around the galactic center, where the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* is located.

All of the matter that we can see is called “luminous matter” and that makes up 10% of the mass of the galaxy. There are lots of open spaces in between the superclusters. The Milky Way is basically a collection of gas, dust, and stars that spread for around 100,000 light-years across, but it is also several thousand light-years thick. The artist's concept also includes a new spiral arm, called the "Far-3 kiloparsec arm," discovered via a radio-telescope survey of gas in the Milky Way. Astronomers have used telescopes as well as mathematic calculations to analyze the Milky Way galaxy. In our Universe, there are over 100 billion galaxies, and our Milky Way galaxy is just one of them. The Milky Way galaxy is moving at a velocity of 600 km / 372 mi per second towards a densely packed region of space called the Shapley Attractor. It isn’t easy because we know that stars, including our sun, come in a variety of sizes. Our Milky Way is part of a bigger group that includes 50 other galaxies in the Local Group. If you would like to discover more about the space, check 16 Mind-Blowing Space Facts You Should Know. The Andromeda galaxy is a bigger galaxy that can be viewed from the northern hemisphere of Earth, and it’s around 2.5 million light-years away. Wow. Milky Way Galaxy Facts: 1. Galaxies merge to form more substantial and more complex galaxies. Not bad for a mid-size galaxy! The two minor arms are called Norma and Sagittarius.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'planetsforkids_org-medrectangle-4','ezslot_4',198,'0','0'])); Scientists have had a major challenge in attempting to count the stars in the Milky Way galaxy. However, some parts of it formed in the early days of the Universe, like the disk and bulge, which weren’t fully developed until about 10-12 billion years ago.

For thousands of years, people of all different cultures around the world have gazed up at the skies and watched the beauty of our Milky Way galaxy. The next step is to decide on an average star’s mass to figure out the total number of stars. Our team works hard to ensure that you enjoy reading our articles; thus, we’d love to hear your feedback about the website. This is due to light pollution. The only thing that you can see outside of our galaxy without a telescope is the Andromeda galaxy. However, our Milky Way is medium in size based upon these estimations, at least when compared to other galaxies. A galaxy is a huge group of gas, stars, dust, and rocks that are held together through gravity.

Both the Milky Way and Andromeda are part of a group of 50 tightly bound galaxies known as the Local Group. Everything that we can see is luminous matter, and it represents only 10% of the Milky Way. In India, Milky Way has been referred to as Aakash Ganga, which literally translates into: “Ganga of the heavens.” 2. The Small and Large Magellanic clouds are two dwarf galaxies that are part of our Local Group. One of the clues about the shape of the galaxy happens when astronomers map the bright young stars along with the ionized hydrogen that’s in the disk of the Milky Way. One of the biggest recently detected, is near a star designated LB-1, and it is 70 times or more massive than our Sun. “odysseymagazine.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Andromeda is moving closer to our Milky Way galaxy and it’s thought that it will collide with us in around 4 billion years. The Milky Way galaxy is a disc shaped spiral galaxy with a huge collection of stars, about 100-400 billion. We think that for the Milky Way to be the size that it is, it must have collided with another galaxy in it’s near 14 billion year lifespan. This is bordered by the Galactic bulge, which is a lot of stars all grouped up together. All the images you see of the Milky Way are actually artists concepts. And what makes them so powerful? The number is constantly changing as we gain new stars and then lose others through supernovae. Everything that we can see is luminous matter, and it represents only 10% of the Milky Way. They are orbiting Sun-like stars and are positioned in their habitable zones, where life can develop. 11 strange facts about Milky Way Galaxy you should know, 9 Of The Most Surprising Facts About The Black Holes, 16 Mind-Blowing Space Facts You Should Know, Top Features and Discoveries of Hubble Space Telescope. The Milky Way has a halo! Many galaxies have such gargantuan celestial objects at their center [1]. They are sights of intense star formation. Not that long after the Big Bang, the Milky Way galaxy started to form from a series of dense regions.