disk component
-
The Milky Way Demystified
Alright, people…time to finish off our exploration of the Milky Way Galaxy, our home in the cosmos! For the past nine weeks, we’ve covered everything from how our galaxy was “discovered” to how it may have formed. But there’s so…
-
How Did the Milky Way Form?
Over the course of my last eight posts, we’ve covered just about everything there is to cover about our home galaxy — or, well, at least the basics. We’ve explored how astronomers first discovered what that incredible, milky stream of…
-
The Composition of the Milky Way
What is our home galaxy made up of? In the broadest sense, it’s made up of stars, clouds of dust and gas, and the mysterious dark matter. We could also get a little more detailed. We could say that it…
-
Exploring the Milky Way’s Spiral Arms
The Milky Way — our home galaxy — is a spiral galaxy, a classification I often describe as pinwheel-shaped. The main difference between a spiral galaxy’s shape and a pinwheel’s shape is that spiral galaxies, like the Milky Way, only…
-
Structure of the Milky Way
In the vast expanse of the cosmos, the Milky Way Galaxy is our home. You’ve no doubt seen images of the Milky Way and similar galaxies elsewhere online. It’s a large, spiral galaxy, one of the most spectacular galactic shapes.…
