Related topics: stars , planets
Milky Way
hideThe Milky Way, or simply the Galaxy, is the galaxy in which the Solar System is located. It is a barred spiral galaxy that is part of the Local Group of galaxies. It is one of billions of galaxies in the observable universe.
Its name is a translation of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn translated from the Greek Γαλαξίας (Galaxias), referring to the pale band of light formed by the galactic plane as seen from Earth (see etymology of galaxy). Some sources hold that, strictly speaking, the term Milky Way should refer exclusively to the band of light that the galaxy forms in the night sky, while the galaxy should receive the full name Milky Way Galaxy, or alternatively the Galaxy. However, it is unclear how widespread this convention is, and the term Milky Way is routinely used in either context.
For more information about Milky Way, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with milky way galaxy
Voyager makes an interstellar discovery
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 26, 2009 |
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The solar system is passing through an interstellar cloud that physics says should not exist. In the Dec. 24th issue of Nature, a team of scientists reveal how NASA's Voyager spacecraft have solved the mystery.
Supernova explosions stay in shape
Dec 17, 2009 |
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At a very early age, children learn how to classify objects according to their shape. Now, new research suggests studying the shape of the aftermath of supernovas may allow astronomers to do the same.
Team using Subaru Telescope makes major discovery
Dec 03, 2009 |
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An international team of scientists that includes an astronomer from Princeton University has made the first direct observation of a planet-like object orbiting a star similar to the sun.
Cassini's Big Sky: The View from the Center of Our Solar System
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When NASA's Cassini spacecraft began orbiting Saturn five years ago, a dozen highly-tuned science instruments set to work surveying, sniffing, analyzing and scrutinizing the Saturnian system.
Physicist makes new high-res panorama of Milky Way
Oct 28, 2009 |
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Cobbling together 3000 individual photographs, a physicist has made a new high-resolution panoramic image of the full night sky, with the Milky Way galaxy as its centerpiece. Axel Mellinger, a professor at ...
Sophisticated telescope camera debuts with peek at nest of black holes
Sep 15, 2009 |
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Less than two months after they inaugurated the world's largest telescope, University of Florida astronomers have used one of the world's most advanced telescopic instruments to gather images of the heavens.
Astronomers unveil an amazing, interactive, 360-degree panoramic view of the entire night sky
Sep 14, 2009 |
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2
(PhysOrg.com) -- The first of three images of ESO's GigaGalaxy Zoom project — a new magnificent 800-million-pixel panorama of the entire sky as seen from ESO's observing sites in Chile — has just been released ...
Giant Galaxy Hosts the Most Distant Supermassive Black Hole
Sep 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Hawaii (UH) astronomer Dr. Tomotsugu Goto and colleagues have discovered a giant galaxy surrounding the most distant supermassive black hole ever found. The galaxy, so distant ...
Seeing the Cosmos Through 'Warm' Infrared Eyes
Aug 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has taken its first shots of the cosmos since warming up and starting its second career. The infrared telescope ran out of coolant on May 15, 2009, more than ...
Turbulence responsible for black holes' balancing act
Jul 14, 2009 |
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We live in a hierarchical Universe where small structures join into larger ones. Earth is a planet in our Solar System, the Solar System resides in the Milky Way Galaxy, and galaxies combine into groups and ...
Astrophysicists solve mystery in Milky Way galaxy
Jul 09, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (19) |
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A team of astrophysicists has solved a mystery that led some scientists to speculate that the distribution of certain gamma rays in our Milky Way galaxy was evidence of a form of undetectable "dark matter" ...
Unusual shape of exploded star puzzles scientists
Jun 17, 2009 |
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Penn State astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to produce a new image of a ghostly exploded star with an unusual shape in a galaxy near the Milky Way. Astronomers think the object may be ...
James Webb Space Telescope unfolds by animation (w/Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 13, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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Although engineers, scientists and manufacturers are still in the process of building all of the instruments that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, they had to figure out long ago, how it ...
Why Are Galaxies So Smooth?
May 01, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers has discovered streams of young stars flowing from their natal cocoons in distant galaxies. These distant rivers ...
Kepler Captures First Views of Planet-Hunting Territory
Apr 16, 2009 |
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3
NASA's Kepler mission has taken its first images of the star-rich sky where it will soon begin hunting for planets like Earth.
