Milky Way The Milky Way is our home galaxy. ⠠ ⠐ ⠠ ⣀⣀⣀⣀⡀ ⠁ ⣀⡤⠶⠻⠿⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠻⠷⣦⣄⡀ ⠰⠞⠉ ⡀ ⠄⠉⠻⣶⣄ ⠁ ⠠ ⠈ ⠆ ⠁ ⠹⣦⠄ ⣡⡴⣻⡯⠽⠋⠛⠲⣴⡀ ⠘⣇ ⡀ ⢠⡞⡵⢋⠁ ⢀ ⠠⢈⠿⠄ ⠠ ⢻⠠ ⠂ ⠐ ⢠⡏⡼⠁ ⠈ ⣠⣼⣶⡟ ⠁⢸ ⡀ ⣾ ⡇⠂ ⢡⣴⣿⠿⠋ ⠂ ⢀⡿ ⠠ ⢀ ⠈ ⣿ ⣏ ⢤⡋⡋⠁⠁⠈⠄ ⠐⢡⡾⠁ ⢀ ⠂ ⢸⡄⠸⣆ ⠈⢻⢦⣀⡈ ⠄⣁⣬⠾⠛ ⠐ ⢻⡄⠚⣧⣀ ⠈⠈⠉⠉⠉⠉ ⡀ ⠁ ⠐ ⡹⣦⡀⠈⠓⠧⢤☉⣄⣀⣤⡤⠤ ⢀⡄ ⠁ ⠙⠶⣄⣀ ⠁ ⣁⣤⠾⠛ ⠁ ⠉⠛⠳⠶⠶⠶⠶⠒⠚⠛⠉ ⠈ ⠁ ⠐ ⢀ Type Barred spiral galaxy Constellation Sagittarius Diameter 100,000 light years Centre 26,000 light years away, in Sagittarius Stars 100 to 400 billion From here too bright, the band does not show More information about Milky Way The Milky Way is the band of light across the sky, and it is our own galaxy seen from a position inside it. It is a flattened disc about a hundred thousand light years across containing a few hundred billion stars, and we sit roughly halfway out from the middle, so looking along the plane of the disc means looking through the greatest depth of stars, and that is the band. It is brightest and widest towards Sagittarius, because that is the direction of the centre. Roughly a third of the people alive now live under skies too bright to show it at all. Calqued into Latin as via lactea and then into every European language, while galaxias itself gave the word galaxy. Elsewhere it is usually a river or a road: Chinese yinhe, the silver river, and Sanskrit Akashaganga, the Ganges of the sky. Etymology From Greek, through Latin Reading galaxias kyklos · γαλαξίας κύκλος Literally milky circle Greek galaxias kyklos, milky circle ─┐ Latin via lactea, the same picture ─┤ Chinese yinhe, the silver river ─┼──▶ Sanskrit Akashaganga, the Ganges of the sky ─┘ milk in Europe, a river almost everywhere else where it is tonight: skymap.sh/Milky Way