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The Milky Way as seen from Sajama National Park in Bolivia, an area with little light pollution. As viewed from Earth, the visible region of the Milky Way's galactic plane occupies an area of the sky that includes 30 constellations. [e] The Galactic Center lies in the direction of Sagittarius, where the Milky Way is brightest.
Group of at least 80 galaxies of which the Milky Way is a part. Dominated by Andromeda (the largest), the Milky Way and Triangulum; the remainder are dwarf galaxies. [39] Local Sheet: 7 Mpc 2.16×10 20: Group of galaxies including the Local Group moving at the same relative velocity towards the Virgo Cluster and away from the Local Void. [40] [41]
The Solar System's location in the Milky Way is a factor in the evolutionary history of life on Earth. Spiral arms are home to a far larger concentration of supernovae , gravitational instabilities, and radiation that could disrupt the Solar System, but since Earth stays in the Local Spur and therefore does not pass frequently through spiral ...
At first, it looks like a planet: dark, snow-speckled and slashed down the center by a deep red scar. But zoom in a little closer, and you realize you're looking at something much larger than a ...
Original - A diagram of Earth’s location in the Universe in a series of eight maps that show from left to right, the Earth, inside the Solar System, inside the Solar Interstellar Neighborhood, inside the Milky Way, inside the Local Galactic Group, inside the Virgo Supercluster, inside our local superclusters, and finally finishing inside the entire observable Universe.
The nature of the Milky Way's bar, which extends across the Galactic Center, is also actively debated, with estimates for its half-length and orientation spanning between 1–5 kpc (short or a long bar) and 10–50°. [23] [25] [27] Certain authors advocate that the Milky Way features two distinct bars, one nestled within the other. [28]
Artist's depiction of the Milky Way Galaxy showing the origin and orientation of galactic longitude. The galactic longitude (l) runs from the Sun upwards in the image through the center of the galaxy. The galactic latitude (b) is perpendicular to the image (i.e. coming out of the image) and also centered on the Sun.
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. [23] This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is contained in its global ocean, covering 70.8% of Earth's crust.