The Milky Way Galaxy - Unbelievable Facts About Our Galaxy

The Milky Way Galaxy is our home; a vast place that encompasses our planet, solar system, and billions of stars and planets.

The name “milky” originates from the Greek word “galaxias” and is used to describe its unique appearance as a dim glowing band that spreads across the night sky. It makes individual stars in the sky indistinguishable to the naked eye.

As a vast place measuring approximately 120,000-180,000 light-years in diameter, a lot of discoveries have been made by our scientists, all of which are to inspire and impress.

Well, let’s have a look at some unbelievable facts about our galaxy.

The Galaxy is Quite Vast

As stated earlier, the universe is quite vast and it’s no surprise that it contains over 200 billion stars plus at least 100 billion planets.

Interestingly, it’s not possible to see all these stars in the night sky with the naked-eye. Actually, we can only see about 2500 stars.

Low Surface Brightness

It’s difficult to see the galaxy from a brightly lit urban location due to its low surface brightness, but it’s easy to see it when the moon is below the horizon.

The Milky Way is Warped

The Milky Way is basically a warped or spiral galaxy, a fact which our astronomers attribute to the galaxy’s own neighbors; the Large and Small Magellanic clouds.

According to astronomers, these two dwarf galaxies may be orbiting our galaxy and are therefore believed to have been pulling on the dark matter in the Milky Way, creating a warped shape.

It’s a Halo

Another interesting fact about our galaxy is that it’s a Halo due to the fact that it consists of dark matter.

The halo is however invisible, although its existence has been previously demonstrated by running simulations of how fast the stars inside the galaxy’s disk orbit the center or how the galaxy would appear without this invisible mass.

It’s Was Made from Other Galaxies

According to astronomers, the Milky Way wasn’t originally what it looks like today.

Its current size and shape was formed as a result of merging or rather “eating up” other galaxies in the universe. One of these galaxies is the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy and one of its closest galaxies, the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy is already in the process as its stars are currently being added to the Milky Way’s disc.

There is a Supermassive Black Hole at its Center

Like other galaxies in the universe, the Milky Way has a supermassive black hole at its center.

This black hole is known as Sagittarius A which is a massive source of radio waves measuring approximately 22.5 million kilometers across. This is about the size of planet Mercury.

Possibility of Colliding with the Andromeda Galaxy

Astronomers estimate that in about 5 billion years, the Milky Way Galaxy will collide with its closest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy.

It’s said that the two are moving towards each other at approximately 70 miles per second. Upon colliding, scientists claim that they will provide an influx of fresh material that will kick-start a brand new formation of stars.

Up to date, there is still so much more to explore in our galaxy. There are many more mysteries to be solved and lots of interesting things to discover.

Hopefully, more advanced technology will help us unearth these mysteries in the near future.