Milky Way | Don't Miss That Window

The Milky Way is the barred spiral galaxy that contains our Solar System. Its name, derived from the Latin 'Via Lactea', refers to the hazy band of light seen in the night sky from Earth, caused by the galaxy's disk of stars seen edge-on. Estimates suggest it contains 100-400 billion stars and at least 100 billion planets, with a diameter of roughly 100,000 light-years. At its center lies Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole weighing about 4 million solar masses. Understanding the Milky Way is fundamental to comprehending our place in the universe and the processes that shape galactic evolution.