EASY READ Space
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What is the Milky Way Galaxy?
The Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy to which our own star, the Sun, belongs. Sometimes called, simply, the Galaxy, it is a vast, fairly flat spiral of stars. It is named after the misty band of stars in the night sky—actually our side-on view of the spiral arm where our Solar System lies. The Galaxy contains about 200 billion stars and measures about 100,000 light years across. In our neighbourhood it spins at 250 kilometres per second (150 miles/sec). It takes more than 200 million years to complete one full rotation.
Spiral arms
The Galaxy has a bulge at its centre. Extending out from it is a bar-shaped region of stars. For this reason, The Milk Way Galaxy is described as a barred spiral galaxy.
Older, red stars are concentrated in the central bulge. At least four giant arms spiral out from the nucleus. Younger blue stars are found in the outer reaches of these arms, amid clouds of gas and dust where new stars are forming. The Sun is situated on one of the spiral arms, roughly halfway out from the nucleus. Here are mostly yellow and orange young-to-middle aged stars.
Consultant: Mike Goldsmith
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