Just as the Earth goes around the Sun, the Sun goes around the center of the Milky Way. Our Solar System is about 25,000 light years away from the center of our galaxy â€“ we live in the suburbs of our galaxy. These stars form a large disk whose diameter is about 100,000 light years. Our best estimates tell us that the Milky Way is made up of approximately 100 billion stars. It is very difficult to count the number of stars in the Milky Way from our position inside the galaxy. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way because it appears as a milky band of light in the sky when you see it in a really dark area. All the stars we see in the night sky are in our own Milky Way Galaxy. The Milky Way is a large barred spiral galaxy. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. A galaxy is a large group of stars, gas, and dust bound together by gravity.

Our Sun (a star) and all the planets around it are part of a galaxy known as the Milky Way Galaxy. Here it is seen with several Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Arra (ALMA) antenna.

The band of the Milky Way galaxy can be seen at night in areas with dark skies.

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