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GAIA
Illustration, not a photograph

Galaxy

Milky Way

Our galaxy

Description

The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with 100 to 400 billion stars. The Sun lies in a minor arm, about 26,000 light-years from the centre, home to the black hole Sagittarius A*.

Did you know?

To see the band of the Milky Way you need a moonless sky far from city lights.