The Milky Way

galaxy · space · stars · home

A River of Stars. The Milky Way looks like a misty, hazy band of light stretching across the night sky. This glow comes from billions and billions of stars that are so far away we can't see them as individual points of light, they just blend together into one beautiful, cloudy river.

Our Cosmic Home. The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System, which means Earth, the Sun, and all the planets we know are part of this giant star city. We're not floating alone in space, we're tucked inside this enormous spiral galaxy.

A Spinning Spiral. The Milky Way is shaped like a giant spiral, with arms that twist around a bright center. Our Solar System sits out on one of these spiral arms, about 26,000 light-years away from the galaxy's bustling center.

Visible from Earth. On clear, dark nights away from city lights, you can actually see the Milky Way stretching across the sky with your own eyes. Ancient people saw this glowing band and noticed it looked like spilled milk, which is how the galaxy got its name!

Billions Upon Billions. Scientists estimate the Milky Way contains between 100 billion and 400 billion stars, possibly even more. That's more stars than there are grains of sand on all of Earth's beaches!