Milky Way articles
What's in the Orion Arm?
The region our Solar System calls home within the colossal structure of the Milky Way galaxy is known formally as the Or...
How many arms does our galaxy have?
The Milky Way galaxy, our cosmic home, is classified as a barred spiral galaxy [^3]. While that classification tells us ...
How did we figure out where the center of the Milky Way is?
The challenge of pinpointing the precise location of the Milky Way's center seems almost paradoxical. We are inside the ...
Is the Milky Way a universe or galaxy?
The bright band we sometimes see arching across a truly dark night sky—the Milky Way—is one of the most recognizable cel...
Which arm of the Milky Way is the sun in?
Our star, the Sun, and our entire planetary system are nestled within the vast structure of the Milky Way galaxy, and th...
How does NASA know what the Milky Way looks like?
When we look up at a clear, dark night sky far from city lights, we see the Milky Way as a faint, glowing band of light ...
Are we in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way?
The island of stars we inhabit, the Milky Way galaxy, is a grand, barred spiral structure, and yes, our local neighborho...
How many bodies are in the Milky Way?
The sheer scale of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, is a concept that strains human intuition. Asking how many "bodies" r...
Is the solar system in the disk of the Milky Way?
The structure we call home, the Solar System, resides deep within the flattened component of our home galaxy, the Milky ...
How far is the Perseus Arm from Earth?
The sheer scale of the Milky Way galaxy often makes precise measurements feel like an abstract exercise, especially when...
Is our Solar System in the Sagittarius Arm?
The question of exactly where our Sun and its planetary entourage reside within the vast expanse of the Milky Way galaxy...
What galaxy arm is Earth in?
Our cosmic address places the Sun, and by extension, Earth, within a specific, smaller feature of our massive home galax...
Is the Veil Nebula in the Milky Way?
The delicate, ethereal structures we observe as the Veil Nebula reside squarely within the boundaries of our own galaxy,...