Have you ever looked up in the night sky seeing the stars littered all over, small twinkling lights far far away.
These stars are so far away from each other that it takes years for light to travel between them.
All the stars you see at night are part of the milky way galaxy, even you yourself, the sun, planets.
So when ever you are looking at the night sky, the sun, moon, planets, other things or people around you, You are indirectly looking at the Milky Way Galaxy..
What is a galaxy?
A galaxy is a cluster of stars, clouds, dust, planets, dark matters all held
together by the reaching arms of gravity....
Read more about galaxies here ==> Galaxies
Now let us run through Facts about our own Home Galaxy the milky way galaxy ..
1 out of billions
Yeah that is correct, Our milky way galaxy is not the only galaxy there is but 1 galaxy out of more than 200billion galaxies in the observable universe.
That is like 1 grain of sand in a whole desert.
Long before humans never knew our galaxy was not alone, we thought we were and science hypothesized about other galaxies they called itIsland universes
Not until in the early 1900s did a young Astronomer Edwin Hubble (Hubble telescope named after him) confirmed using the Mount Wilson that a distant nebulae was indeed an island universe (Distinct galaxy from ours) this nebulae is known now as the Andromeda galaxy More than 2million light years away.
thus humanity found out our galaxy wasn't the only one and now we find the number of galaxies not only reach up to 10 or 100 but billions of these gigantic monsters.
This image is a hubble deep field image, achieved when the hubble telescope is faced at one blank dark part of space for days or weeks, the result shows massive numerous distant galaxies.
every dot of light in this image is an individual galaxy, there are more 10,000 in this one image alone
Size
Ok galaxies are really huge, there are dwarf ones but still galaxies are very huge to us. Being a gravitational wedlock of billions of stars, billions of planet, stellar dusts, clouds, gases, dark matter, it gets real big.
The milky way galaxy is on average very large though there are some galaxies that dwarfs it big time in terms of sheer size.
but it is large, up to 120,000,000 light years in diameter and up to 12,000 in thickness.
Light is the fastest thing known to man, in fact as far as we know the fastest thing in nature, now imagine this.
If the milky way galaxy was a football field, it'd take light up to 120million years to travel from one goal post to the other.
Uuuhm lets get a little bit closer home, the earth is really big right, yeah it is now scale this. If the earth was the size of an atom (only seen with with a microscope) then the milky way galaxy is the size of the united state of America.
That's just how large it is
Consider the picture below, Our SUN and the entire Solar system are not actually anymore than the small dot in the picture.
Ok galaxies are really huge, there are dwarf ones but still galaxies are very huge to us. Being a gravitational wedlock of billions of stars, billions of planet, stellar dusts, clouds, gases, dark matter, it gets real big.
The milky way galaxy is on average very large though there are some galaxies that dwarfs it big time in terms of sheer size.
but it is large, up to 120,000,000 light years in diameter and up to 12,000 in thickness.
Light is the fastest thing known to man, in fact as far as we know the fastest thing in nature, now imagine this.
If the milky way galaxy was a football field, it'd take light up to 120million years to travel from one goal post to the other.
Uuuhm lets get a little bit closer home, the earth is really big right, yeah it is now scale this. If the earth was the size of an atom (only seen with with a microscope) then the milky way galaxy is the size of the united state of America.
That's just how large it is
Consider the picture below, Our SUN and the entire Solar system are not actually anymore than the small dot in the picture.
It hasn't always being that big
So the milky way at the starting point of it's evolution hasn't always being this big, it has been averagely small.
then how did it get this big?
By preying on other smaller galaxies. There are lots and lots of galaxies in the universe all swirling around in a dance of gravitational music, so there is bound to be random collisions all around.
Massive galaxies can pull in smaller galaxies gravitationally and finally they collide and merge and the galaxy becomes bigger.
this was exactly how the Milky Way became bigger, by preying on smaller galaxies accumulating more and more galaxies and gets bigger.
The latest of it's prey is The Carnis Major Dwarf Galaxy whose stars are slowly being drifted into the Milky Way galaxy, soon the entire galaxy will be merged with the milky way and it will become even bigger.
So the milky way at the starting point of it's evolution hasn't always being this big, it has been averagely small.
then how did it get this big?
By preying on other smaller galaxies. There are lots and lots of galaxies in the universe all swirling around in a dance of gravitational music, so there is bound to be random collisions all around.
Massive galaxies can pull in smaller galaxies gravitationally and finally they collide and merge and the galaxy becomes bigger.
this was exactly how the Milky Way became bigger, by preying on smaller galaxies accumulating more and more galaxies and gets bigger.
The latest of it's prey is The Carnis Major Dwarf Galaxy whose stars are slowly being drifted into the Milky Way galaxy, soon the entire galaxy will be merged with the milky way and it will become even bigger.
It has up to 200 billion stars
As galaxies go, the Milky Way is a middleweight. The largest galaxy we
know of, which is the monsterous IC 1101 , has over 100 trillion stars, and other
large galaxies can have as many as a trillion.
Dwarf galaxies such as the aforementioned Large Magellanic Cloud have about 10 billion stars.
The Milky Way has between 100-400 billion stars; but when you look up into
the night sky, the most you can see from any one point on the globe is
about 2,500.
This number is not fixed, however, because the Milky Way is
constantly losing stars through supernovae, and producing new ones all the
time
As galaxies go, the Milky Way is a middleweight. The largest galaxy we
know of, which is the monsterous IC 1101 , has over 100 trillion stars, and other
large galaxies can have as many as a trillion.
Dwarf galaxies such as the aforementioned Large Magellanic Cloud have about 10 billion stars.
The Milky Way has between 100-400 billion stars; but when you look up into
the night sky, the most you can see from any one point on the globe is
about 2,500.
This number is not fixed, however, because the Milky Way is
constantly losing stars through supernovae, and producing new ones all the
time
it has up to 50 satellite galaxies
A satellite is a celestial object in orbit around another of similar attributes. . Planetary objects around other planetary objects are called Moons.
Big Galaxies also have satellites (smaller galaxies) in orbit around them...
An orbit is formed by gravitational interference from a body of larger mass on a celestial body in a straight motion.
The Milky way galaxy hosts up to 50 small galaxies in orbit around it of which it devours some of them little by little.
A satellite is a celestial object in orbit around another of similar attributes. . Planetary objects around other planetary objects are called Moons.
Big Galaxies also have satellites (smaller galaxies) in orbit around them...
An orbit is formed by gravitational interference from a body of larger mass on a celestial body in a straight motion.
The Milky way galaxy hosts up to 50 small galaxies in orbit around it of which it devours some of them little by little.
On a collision Course
Yeah yell!!! shout and freak out but it's true. The milky way is on a head on collision course with the Largest of it's neighbours The famous great Andromeda Galaxy.
The Milky way may bully and swallow some miniature galaxies around it but for a galaxy like Andromeda bigger than the Milky way it is a different story.
Everything in the universe is in constant motion, the motion Course of both the Milky way and the Andromeda puts both Large galaxies on a direct collision Course.
Approximately 4billion years from now.
So don't worry, you'd not be there to see it.....
They both will merge and form a more larger gigantic Galaxy called Milkdromeda
The Andromeda galaxy at more than 2million light years away can be seen with the Unclad eye right here on earth, typically the farthest thing seen with the earths from earth, you might need a good powerful telescope to distinguish it or you'll just mistake it as a star.
This is what our night sky would look like in 3.7 billion years from now when the Andromeda is as close to us as like on our door step..
Yeah yell!!! shout and freak out but it's true. The milky way is on a head on collision course with the Largest of it's neighbours The famous great Andromeda Galaxy.
The Milky way may bully and swallow some miniature galaxies around it but for a galaxy like Andromeda bigger than the Milky way it is a different story.
Everything in the universe is in constant motion, the motion Course of both the Milky way and the Andromeda puts both Large galaxies on a direct collision Course.
Approximately 4billion years from now.
So don't worry, you'd not be there to see it.....
They both will merge and form a more larger gigantic Galaxy called Milkdromeda
The Andromeda galaxy at more than 2million light years away can be seen with the Unclad eye right here on earth, typically the farthest thing seen with the earths from earth, you might need a good powerful telescope to distinguish it or you'll just mistake it as a star.
This is what our night sky would look like in 3.7 billion years from now when the Andromeda is as close to us as like on our door step..
It is littered with blackholes
This one is even more scary, it is canon that a massive blackhole trillions of times more massive than the sun resides deep in the center of the galaxy but that is not so bad, the bad news is the Galaxy is literally crawling with these unseen monsters.
Blackholes litter the galaxy in billions.
What is a blackhole?
A blackhole is usually formed when a massive star dies, Once the dying
star has cast off it's star stuff in a supernova. The core- is no longer held in
check by nuclear process- collapses under it's own weight.
More like a well of infinite gravity that sucks everything up and nearly nothing (matter) can escape.
Read More on black holes ---> Here <---
Since blackholes are mostly invisible only detected through gravitational lensing or behaviour of matter around it.
It may be right on the corridor of the Solar System without us even knowing and that is a real BadAsss..
This one is even more scary, it is canon that a massive blackhole trillions of times more massive than the sun resides deep in the center of the galaxy but that is not so bad, the bad news is the Galaxy is literally crawling with these unseen monsters.
Blackholes litter the galaxy in billions.
What is a blackhole?
A blackhole is usually formed when a massive star dies, Once the dying
star has cast off it's star stuff in a supernova. The core- is no longer held in
check by nuclear process- collapses under it's own weight.
More like a well of infinite gravity that sucks everything up and nearly nothing (matter) can escape.
Read More on black holes ---> Here <---
Since blackholes are mostly invisible only detected through gravitational lensing or behaviour of matter around it.
It may be right on the corridor of the Solar System without us even knowing and that is a real BadAsss..
Its an extremely Old Galaxy
The most recent estimates place the age of the Universe at about 13.7
billion years.
Our Milky Way has been around for about 13.6 billion of those
years, give or take another 800 million.
The oldest stars in our the Milky Way are found in globular clusters, and the age of our galaxy is determined by measuring the age of these stars, and then extrapolating the age of what preceded them.
Though some of the constituents of the Milky Way have been around for a
long time, the disk and bulge themselves didn’t form until about 10-12
billion years ago. And that bulge may have formed earlier than the rest of
the galaxy.
The most recent estimates place the age of the Universe at about 13.7
billion years.
Our Milky Way has been around for about 13.6 billion of those
years, give or take another 800 million.
The oldest stars in our the Milky Way are found in globular clusters, and the age of our galaxy is determined by measuring the age of these stars, and then extrapolating the age of what preceded them.
Though some of the constituents of the Milky Way have been around for a
long time, the disk and bulge themselves didn’t form until about 10-12
billion years ago. And that bulge may have formed earlier than the rest of
the galaxy.
It's a Spiral galaxy
Yes the Milky way is not stationary either within itself or on the inter galactic vacuum of space.
Not withstanding that it is racing towards the Andromeda galaxy, the milky way Galaxy also is spinning within itself.
It's arms are spinning and orbiting the galactic center.
Our Sun and the entire Solar System is on the Orions Arm of the Galaxy and of course is also swirling around the Galactic center with the rest of the Orions arm other parts of the galaxy.
From the position of the Sun and Solar system in the Galaxy it takes it about ±250million years to complete one orbit around the galaxy.
The last time the Solar system was in this exact position in the galaxy, the Dinosaurs still ruled the earth.
Yes the Milky way is not stationary either within itself or on the inter galactic vacuum of space.
Not withstanding that it is racing towards the Andromeda galaxy, the milky way Galaxy also is spinning within itself.
It's arms are spinning and orbiting the galactic center.
Our Sun and the entire Solar System is on the Orions Arm of the Galaxy and of course is also swirling around the Galactic center with the rest of the Orions arm other parts of the galaxy.
From the position of the Sun and Solar system in the Galaxy it takes it about ±250million years to complete one orbit around the galaxy.
The last time the Solar system was in this exact position in the galaxy, the Dinosaurs still ruled the earth.
You have never seen an external picture of the milky way
This is embarrassing, we have not and cannot yet take picture of the Milky way from outside.
The Milky galaxy is way too big, man have not achieved inter galactic travel yet so can not take a picture of what the Milky way galaxy looks like from the outside.
All the pictures of the Milky way you see are actually that of Other galaxies speculated to look similar to the Milky way or CGI artist impressions using available data and facts.
The only actual images of the milky galaxy you must have seen are that of the Milky way band taken from earth, only showing a mesh of clustered light running through the sky.
Picture of the milky way band in the earth's sky, mostly visible in the northern and southern pole of the planet.
This is embarrassing, we have not and cannot yet take picture of the Milky way from outside.
The Milky galaxy is way too big, man have not achieved inter galactic travel yet so can not take a picture of what the Milky way galaxy looks like from the outside.
All the pictures of the Milky way you see are actually that of Other galaxies speculated to look similar to the Milky way or CGI artist impressions using available data and facts.
The only actual images of the milky galaxy you must have seen are that of the Milky way band taken from earth, only showing a mesh of clustered light running through the sky.
Picture of the milky way band in the earth's sky, mostly visible in the northern and southern pole of the planet.
Has a more dark matter than ordinary matter
The universe literally has more dark matter than ordinary matter... in the universal scale.
Dark energy is up to 68%
Dark matter is up to 27.8%
And ordinary matter (conventional matter, stars, nebulas and every other normal matter) is less than 5%
-What is Dark matter?
Dark matter is an unconventional unknown type of matter than is blind to electromagnetic spectrums and therefore cannot be seen (which mostly is because our sight is dependant on light (electromagnetism ) it can none the less be detected by the distortion of light and it's gravitational effects.
Our galaxy is surrounded by an enormous halo of dark matter that exceeds the normal matter which adds a humongous mass to the entire mass of the galaxy.
Since dark matter is invisible to us it is also speculated that the earth is even surrounded by it
The universe literally has more dark matter than ordinary matter... in the universal scale.
Dark energy is up to 68%
Dark matter is up to 27.8%
And ordinary matter (conventional matter, stars, nebulas and every other normal matter) is less than 5%
-What is Dark matter?
Dark matter is an unconventional unknown type of matter than is blind to electromagnetic spectrums and therefore cannot be seen (which mostly is because our sight is dependant on light (electromagnetism ) it can none the less be detected by the distortion of light and it's gravitational effects.
Our galaxy is surrounded by an enormous halo of dark matter that exceeds the normal matter which adds a humongous mass to the entire mass of the galaxy.
Since dark matter is invisible to us it is also speculated that the earth is even surrounded by it
We are in the Orions arm
The sun, Earth, and the rest of the solar system are located about 27,000 light-
years away from the Milky Way’s Galactic Center, on the inner edge of a minor
arm of the galaxy, named the Orion Arm
The sun, Earth, and the rest of the solar system are located about 27,000 light-
years away from the Milky Way’s Galactic Center, on the inner edge of a minor
arm of the galaxy, named the Orion Arm
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