Back to Glossary
Milky Way
The galaxy that contains our Solar System, characterized by its barred spiral structure with multiple spiral arms extending from a central bar.
Source: esa.int
APODs including "Milky Way"
LMC Star Clouds
11/10/1995
Image Credit: NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
Pictured above are clouds of young stars forming an arc in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, the nearest galaxy to the our Milky Way Galaxy. These stars are situated in a star forming region known as N 51. The stars are so young they shine mostly in blue and ultraviolet light, and so massive their lifetimes are only millions of years - much shorter than the billions of years of lower mass stars like our Sun. This picture was taken in ultraviolet light by NASA's Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope in March 1995. The reason the arc has the observed shape is currently unknown.