Milky Way, Home to our Solar System

The Solar System and the Milky Way are two entities that complement each other in space. While the Solar System houses the Earth and the others of the nine planets, the Milky Way encompasses the solar system. The Milky way is such a large entity in space and has a diameter of about 100,000 light years. Its thickness is approximately 1,000 light years and its volume is 7.85 cubic light years. The size of the Milky Way makes it so that it is comprised of the stars and the planets that are visible through a telescope and those that are not. There have been many studies done on the milky way galaxy and also other galaxies that are in outer space. As a result of these studies scientist now know that the milky way is a spiral galaxy and may even be a barred spiral galaxy. The stars of the milky way number in the billions with estimates up to 400 billion in some cases. When it comes to planets in the milky Way, they also number in the billions with estimates up to 50 billion planets. Many of the planets in the milky way are free floating but most are located within range of a parent star.

Our sun and solar system is located about two thirds from the center of the milky way galaxy. In older times many thought that the Earth was the center of the universe and based on the research done in more modern times we find that this is far from the truth. The earth is and all the rest of the nine planets are in constant motion and do not stay in one place for long. The milky way comprises all that the eye can see in the night sky and the center of the milky way galaxy is where the galaxy looks the brightest to the human eye.