THE MILKY WAY
Aug 06, 2020
4 minutes
The Milky Way is our galaxy, home to our Solar System. It formed more than 13 billion years ago, less than a billion years after the Big Bang. The galaxy is estimated to be about 100,000 light years in diameter and 1,000 light years thick. It is part of a system of about 50 galaxies known as the Local Group, which is part of the Virgo Supercluster. Containing as many as 100 billion planets and 400 billion stars, the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy. It has a centre, known as a ‘bulge’, which is surrounded by a flat disc comprising several loose arms that contain stars and their orbiting bodies as well as gases
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