The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System (Sol), with the name describing the galaxy’s appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. Ever wondered just how big is the Milky Way Galaxy?
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with an estimated visible diameter of 100,000–200,000 light-years. Recent simulations suggest that a dark matter disk, also containing some visible stars, may extend up to a diameter of almost 2 million light-years.
Milky Way Galaxy Statistics
Radius: 52,850 light-years
Age: 13.61 billion years
Escape velocity: 550 km/s
Absolute magnitude: -21
Number of stars: 100–400 billion
Right ascension: 17h 45m 40.0409s
Constellations: Orion, Sagittarius, Scorpius, Ara, Canis Major, Carina
To provide a little perspective on the magnitude/size…
Source: Learn more at Wikipedia
