Index / Space Objects / Milky Way Galaxy
Space Objects
Milky Way Galaxy
Barred spiral · our home galaxy
A barred spiral about 100,000 light-years across, with four major arms and a supermassive central black hole. The Sun rides in the Orion Spur, two thirds of the way out from the galactic centre.
Key specifications
Diameter
100,000 – 200,000 ly
Stars
100 – 400 B
Mass (halo)
~1.5 × 10¹² M☉
Rotation
~230 M yr (1 galactic yr)
Sheet 008 · Plate 1 of 1 · 1:1 infographic
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