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In November 2013, astronomers reported, based on Kepler space mission data, that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars and red dwarfs within the Milky Way. [166] [167] [168] 11 billion of these estimated planets may be orbiting Sun-like stars. [169]
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] After the acceptance of the heliocentric model in the 17th century, observations by William Herschel and others showed that the Sun lay within a vast, disc-shaped galaxy of ...
Earth orbits the Sun, making Earth the third-closest planet to the Sun and part of the inner Solar System. Earth's average orbital distance is about 150 million km (93 million mi), which is the basis for the astronomical unit (AU) and is equal to roughly 8.3 light minutes or 380 times Earth's distance to the Moon.
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 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.
Most distant (difficult) naked eye object. Closest unbarred spiral galaxy to us and third largest galaxy in the Local Group. 61,100 ly 96 Andromeda XXI [66] dSph [53] 2.802 0.859 −9.9 Local Group: Satellite of Andromeda 97 Tucana Dwarf: dE5 2.87 0.88 [7] −9.16 15.7 [1] Local Group [7] Isolated group member — a 'primordial' galaxy [67] 98 ...
The Galactic Center is the barycenter of the Milky Way and a corresponding point on the rotational axis of the galaxy. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Its central massive object is a supermassive black hole of about 4 million solar masses , which is called Sagittarius A* , [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] a compact radio source which is almost exactly at the galactic rotational ...
The galactic plane is the plane on which the majority of a disk-shaped galaxy's mass lies. The directions perpendicular to the galactic plane point to the galactic poles. In actual usage, the terms galactic plane and galactic poles usually refer specifically to the plane and poles of the Milky Way, in which Planet Earth is located.