Milky Way

The Milky Way is the barred spiral galaxy that contains the Solar System. Its name comes from the hazy band of light it forms across the night sky. It contains an estimated 100-400 billion stars and is part of the Local Group.

The Solar System sits about 27,000 light-years from the Galactic Center, on the inner edge of the Orion Arm. The disk is about 26.8 kpc across but only about 1,000 light-years thick at the spiral arms.