Milky Way - Wikipedia
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with a D 25 isophotal diameter estimated at 26.8 ± 1.1 kiloparsecs (87,400 ± 3,600 light-years), [10] but only about 1,000 light-years thick at the spiral arms (more at the bulge).
Milky Way Galaxy | Size, Definition, & Facts | Britannica
Dec 27, 2024 · The first reliable measurement of the size of the Milky Way Galaxy was made in 1917 by American astronomer Harlow Shapley. Assuming that the globular clusters outlined the Galaxy, he determined that it has a diameter of about 100,000 light-years. His values have held up remarkably well over the years.
Our Milky Way Galaxy: How Big is Space? - Science@NASA
Apr 2, 2019 · Our galaxy probably contains 100 to 400 billion stars, and is about 100,000 light-years across. That sounds huge, and it is, at least until we start comparing it to other galaxies. Our neighboring Andromeda galaxy, for example, is some 220,000 light-years wide.
Milky Way galaxy: Facts about our cosmic neighborhood | Space
Apr 18, 2023 · The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy around 13.6 billion years old with large pivoting arms stretching out across the cosmos. Our home galaxy's disk is about 100,000 light-years in...
How Big Is The Milky Way? - Universe Today
Jan 20, 2015 · NASA estimates the galaxy at 100,000 light-years across. Since one light year is about 9.5 x 10 12 km, so the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy is about 9.5 x 10 17 km in diameter. The...
Where Are We In The Milky Way | Milky Way Facts - Star Walk
Feb 25, 2022 · The Milky Way is 105,700 light-years wide while the Andromeda Galaxy is 220,000 light-years in width. By the way, the Local Group — a group of multiple galaxies including the Milky Way — extends for roughly 10 million light-years around us in space.
The Milky Way Galaxy - Imagine the Universe!
3 days ago · The Milky Way is approximately 100,000 light-years in diameter. Our solar system is 26,000 light-years from the center of the Galaxy. All objects in the Galaxy revolve around the Galaxy's center.
How Big Is The Milky Way? - WorldAtlas
Aug 1, 2022 · The Milky Way Galaxy is estimated to be 100,000 to 200,000 light years across. The size of the Milky Way is determined using both parallax and variable stars.
How big is the Milky Way Galaxy? | Britannica
The first reliable measurement of the size of the Milky Way Galaxy was made in 1917 by American astronomer Harlow Shapley. Assuming that the globular clusters outlined the Galaxy, he determined that it has a diameter of about 100,000 light-years.
How big is our own Milky Way Galaxy (100,000 light-years)?
If we were to compress the Milky Way, a galaxy that spans an astonishing 100,000 light-years across, down to the size of Earth, approximately 12,742 km in diameter, we would be scaling the galaxy down by about 74 trillion times (74,248,394,856,229 times, to be precise).