Back to Space & Astronomy
๐
โญ Stars & Galaxies
Milky Way Galaxy
Our home galaxy; 200โ400 billion stars in a spiral disc 100,000 light-years across
Universe ๐ 13.8 Billion Years Ago Stars & Galaxies
Key Facts
- 1
200โ400 billion stars; 100,000 light-years wide; Earth is 26,000 light-years from the galactic centre
- 2
A barred spiral galaxy; orbits the Milky Way's supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* (4 million solar masses)
- 3
Andromeda galaxy (2.5 million light-years away) will collide with the Milky Way in ~4.5 billion years
๐ Did you know? If the Sun were the size of a grain of sand, the Milky Way would be as large as a continent โ a sense of its scale
Quick Reference
Category
Stars & Galaxies
Region
๐ Universe
Year / Era
13.8 Billion Years Ago
About
Our home galaxy