milky way

The galactic home of the Earth, the Sun, and between 100 and 400 billion other stars. It is roughly disc-shaped, with a diameter approximately 80 times its thickness, while the Solar System is roughly 60% of the way from the center to the rim. Because of its shape and the Earth's position inside it, it appears as a hazy band which circles the entire sky.

For depictions of galaxies which deviate substantially from the above description, such as when depicted with a different shape or from the perspective of an observer outside it, or from a different universe altogether, use the more general galaxy tag.

External links

• Wikipedia: Milky Way

This tag implicates star_(sky) (learn more).