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The Milky Way [c] is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galaxy, which are so far away that they cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye.
Knowledge of the location of Earth has been shaped by 400 years of telescopic observations, and has expanded radically since the start of the 20th century. Initially, Earth was believed to be the center of the Universe , which consisted only of those planets visible with the naked eye and an outlying sphere of fixed stars . [ 1 ]
380 Earth radii (very inaccurate, true=16000 Earth radii) Aristarchus of Samos made a measurement of the distance of the Sun from the Earth in relation to the distance of the Moon from the Earth. The distance to the Moon was described in Earth radii (20, also inaccurate). The diameter of the Earth had been calculated previously.
The Local Group is the galaxy group that includes the Milky Way, where Earth is located. It has a total diameter of roughly 3 megaparsecs (10 million light-years ; 9 × 10 19 kilometres ), [ 1 ] and a total mass of the order of 2 × 10 12 solar masses (4 × 10 42 kg). [ 2 ]
A galaxy is a system of stars ... Blazars are believed to be active galaxies with a relativistic jet pointed in the direction of Earth. A radio galaxy emits radio ...
The Orion Arm, also known as the Orion–Cygnus Arm, is a minor spiral arm within the Milky Way Galaxy spanning 3,500 light-years (1,100 parsecs) in width and extending roughly 20,000 light-years (6,100 parsecs) in length. [2] This galactic structure encompasses the Solar System, including Earth.
This is the galaxy containing the Sun and its Solar System, and therefore Earth. [citation needed] Nearest galaxy to the Milky Way Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy: 1994 0.070 Mly The closest, undisputed galaxy. The disputed dwarf galaxy Canis Major Overdensity is even closer at 25,000 light-years. [citation needed] Nearest dwarf galaxy
The galactic coordinates use the Sun as the origin. Galactic longitude (l) is measured with primary direction from the Sun to the center of the galaxy in the galactic plane, while the galactic latitude (b) measures the angle of the object above the galactic plane.