How many stars are in our galaxy. Our galaxy is the Milky Way

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How many stars are there in the Milky Way galaxy: how to determine the amount, the study of the Hubble telescope, the structure of a spiral galaxy, observation methods.

If you have the opportunity to admire the dark sky, then an incredible stellar collection opens up in front of you. From any place, 2500 stars of the Milky Way are available for viewing without the use of technology and 5800-8000 if binoculars or a telescope are hidden at hand. But this is only a small part of their number. So, how many stars are in the milky way galaxy?

Scientists believe that the total number of stars in the Milky Way ranges from 100-400 billion, although there are those who raise the mark to a trillion. Why such differences? The fact is that we have a view from the inside and there are places hidden from the earth's visibility zone.

Galactic structure and its influence on the number of stars

Let's start with the fact that the solar system is located in a galactic disk of a spiral type, with a length of 100,000 light years. We are 30,000 light years away from the center. That is, there is a huge gap between us and the opposite side.

Then there is another difficulty of observation. Some stars are brighter than others and sometimes their light outshines the neighbors. The most distant stars visible to the naked eye are located at a distance of 1000 light years. The Milky Way is full of dazzling lights, but many of them are hidden behind a haze of gas and dust. It is this elongated trace that is called "milky".

Stars in our galactic "region" are open to observation. Imagine that you are at a party in a room where the entire area is packed with people. You stand in one corner and are asked to name the exact number of people present. But that's not all. One of the guests turns on the smoke machine, and the entire room is filled with a thick fog, blocking out everyone who is further away from you. Now count!

Methods for visualizing the number of stars

But do not panic, because there are always loopholes. Infrared cameras allow you to get through dust and smoke. Such projects include the Spitzer telescope, COBE, WISE and the German Space Observatory.

All of them appeared in the last ten years to study the space in infrared wavelengths. It helps to find hidden stars. But this does not allow you to see everything, so scientists are forced to make calculations and put forward conjectural figures. Observations begin with stellar orbits on the galactic disk. Thanks to this, the orbital speed and period of rotation (motion) of the Milky Way are calculated.

Conclusions about how many stars are in the Milky Way

One rotation around the galactic center of the solar system takes 225-250 million years. That is, the speed of the galaxy is 600 km/s.

Next, the mass is determined (dark matter halo - 90%) and the average mass is calculated (they study the masses and types of stars). As a result, it turns out that the average estimate of the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy is 200-400 billion celestial bodies.

Future technology will make it possible to find every star. Or probes can reach incredible distances and take a picture of the galaxy from the "north" - above the center. In the meantime, we can only rely on mathematical calculations.

Galaxy - Milky Way

Spiral galaxy type Sbc, centered in the constellation Sagittarius

The Milky Way is the galaxy that is the home of our solar system, along with at least 200 billion other stars (recent estimates have given numbers of about 400 billion stars), and their planets, thousands of clusters and nebulae.
The Milky Way includes almost all the objects in the Messier catalog that are not galaxies - these are M54 from SagDEG and possibly M79. All objects are located in orbit around the center of the Milky Way - their common center of mass, called the center of the Galaxy.
The Milky Way galaxy is actually a gigantic entity, as its mass is probably between 750 billion and one trillion solar masses, and its diameter is about 100,000 light years.
Radio astronomical studies of the distribution of hydrogen have shown that the Milky Way is a Hubble type Sb and Sc spiral galaxy.
Thus, our Galaxy has a disk-spiral structure as a pronounced component.

More about the structure of the Milky Way

The Milky Way Galaxy belongs to the Local Group of galaxies, consisting of 3 large and more than 30 small galaxies, and is the second largest (after Andromeda Nebula M31), but perhaps the most massive.
M31, about 2.9 million light-years away, is the closest major galaxy to approach the Milky Way.
But a number of small galaxies are much closer: many dwarf galaxies of the Local Group are satellites of the Milky Way.

The two nearest neighbors, only recently discovered (2003), are the closest, almost destroyed dwarf galaxy Canis Major, whose core is 25,000 light-years away and about 45,000 light-years from the center of the Galaxy.
In second place is SagDEG, at a distance of about 88,000 light-years from us, and about 50,000 light-years from the center of the Galaxy. These two dwarf galaxies are currently approaching our galaxy. They are followed in distances from us by the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, at 179,000 and 210,000 light years, respectively.

The spiral arms of the Milky Way contain interstellar matter, diffuse nebulae and young stars and star clusters. Our galaxy probably has about 200 globular star clusters (globulars), but we know only 150. These globular clusters are highly concentrated around the galactic center.

Our solar system is located within the outer part of the galaxy, inside the disk, and only 20 light-years "above" the equatorial plane of symmetry (towards the galactic North Pole) and about 28,000 light-years from the center of the Galaxy.
Thus, the Milky Way is seen as a luminous band spanning the entire sky along this plane of symmetry, also called the "Galactic Equator". Its center is in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius, but very close to the border of the constellations Scorpio and Ophiuchus. A distance of 28,000 light years has recently been confirmed (1997) by data from ESA's Hipparcos astronomical satellite. Other research published studies give an estimate of about 26,000 light years.

Found within a small spiral arm called the Orion Arm, this cluster is just a link between the inner and outer next, more massive arms of Sagittarius and Perseus.
Like other galaxies, the Milky Way experiences supernovae at irregular intervals. If they are not too heavily obscured by the interstellar medium, they can be, and have been, seen as spectacular effects from Earth. Unfortunately, there have been no such observations since the invention of the telescope (the last observation of a supernova was recorded by Johannes Kepler in 1604).

Ours, along with the entire solar system, revolves around the Galactic Center in an almost circular orbit. We are moving at about 250 km / s, it takes about 220 million years to complete one revolution (this is how the Solar System turned around the Center of the Galaxy approximately 20 to 21 times since its formation - 4.6 billion years ago).

From Earth, the Milky Way appears to be a faint, blurry streak of light roaming through the constellations. It looks brighter and denser in the direction of Sagittarius and Scorpio, and paler and more diffuse in the constellations of Perseus and Andromeda. It is around or inside this spot that the brightest groups of stars are concentrated.

STRIP OF STARS

We see only part of the plane of our Galaxy. If we look at it from different angles, we will notice stars that stretch for thousands of light years and are so densely "scattered" that they resemble clouds.

Galileo Galilei was the first to comprehend the true nature of the Milky Way. Around 1610, one of the telescopes created by the scientist made it possible for him to see that these shining clouds were countless stars.

However, in order to understand the structure of the Galaxy and understand where we are in it, it took much more time. Today we know that the Milky Way is a disk about 100,000 light-years in diameter with a large elliptical bulge of stars at its center about 15,000 light-years thick and about 8,000 light-years deep.

Discovery of the Milky Way

As early as 1755, the German philosopher Immanuel Kant suggested that our solar system is part of a huge flat body of rotating stars that appears as the Milky Way. But the first person to attempt to measure the galaxy was William Gersh, the discoverer of Uranus. This happened around 1785. Herschel's map, compiled on the basis of counting the number of stars concentrated in different parts of the sky, bears little resemblance to a spiral. It was not until the 1920s that Jacobus Kaptein described in detail the Milky Way, which began to resemble the system we know today. However, as early as 1900, Dutch amateur astronomer Cornelis Easton suggested that our galaxy might resemble the spiral nebulae that are often seen in the sky.

OUR SPIRAL HOUSE

The disk is made up of stars and clouds of dust and gas. Each of these components rotates in its own orbit around the center. It may seem that all the stars of the spiral are concentrated in its arms, but this impression is deceptive: in fact, the arms are regions where stars are formed. Our Galaxy has two main arms, which are located on either side of a straight bridge of stars 27,000 light-years long passing through its axis. At present, the Sun is at the inner edge of the Orion Arm and revolves around the galactic center at a frequency of approximately 225 million years. However, since the Sun moves at a speed different from the speed of the entire spiral structure, the position of our luminary changes over tens of millions of years.

Globular clusters of stars

Above and below the disk of the Galaxy is an elongated halo - a region of clusters of single stars and huge iridescent stellar balls of thousands, maybe even millions of closely spaced stars. These globular star clusters are different from the less dense, open clusters of the galactic disk. The stars of globular clusters are population II stars, as are those in the galactic center - these are very ancient red and yellow stars. More than 150 globular clusters are known to orbit the center.

VARIETY OF STARS

Stars vary in size, brightness, and color, depending on their mass and age. The more massive the star, the brighter its brilliance and the faster it uses up its fuel.

For almost the entire period of the existence of a star, its surface temperature, brightness and mass are associated with the so-called. main sequence: light stars are dim, cold and red, and heavy stars are bright, hot and white-blue. Our Sun is somewhere in the middle of the main sequence - it is not very bright, it is characterized by an average mass, the temperature of its yellow-red surface is about 5500 K. The Sun has an average age of about 10 billion years.

STAR END

As stars run out of hydrogen at their cores and start burning other fuels, their luminosity increases, but as they grow to enormous sizes, they cool down. Toward the end of their lives, stars similar to our Sun, after several billion years of thermonuclear fusion, turn into red giants, and supermassive stars (at the beginning of their life cycle they are much hotter than the Sun) are able to transform into supergiants of any color.

The life of a star ends with an explosion: it throws off the outer layers, turning into a luminous planetary nebula. If the star is very massive, a supernova explosion occurs. The remnants dissipate in the surrounding space and mix with clouds of dust and gas of the galactic disk, becoming part of new generations of stars. All that remains of the star is the core, which shrinks, turning into a slowly cooling white dwarf, a rapidly rotating neutron star, or one of the most mysterious objects - a black hole.

BETWEEN THE STARS

Stars and their remnants are the most visible objects in the galaxy, but between them there are also huge swirling clumps of gas and dust. You can see them only when they obscure the light of more distant objects, forming dark spots in the stellar clouds of the Milky Way. Gas in nebulae can be seen in two ways. The reflection nebula shines by scattering light from nearby stars. An emission nebula glows on its own - its atoms and molecules absorb energy (often ultraviolet radiation from nearby young hot stars) and then emit it in a certain range.

The disk of the Milky Way is dominated by stars, gas and dust. As a rule, its stars, like the Sun, are in the middle of their life cycle and are fairly evenly distributed throughout the disk. However, along the edges of its spiral arms, stars are concentrated, forming open clusters. They are dominated by bright, young and short-lived stars. It seems that the luminous nebulae in which these stars are born are also concentrated near the spirals, although this impression is misleading - the gas and dust of the nebulae are present throughout the disk, just because of the process of star formation and open clusters, they are more noticeable near the arms.

Star population

The stars in the central region of the Galaxy are very different from the stars of the disk, but the most important difference is in their exact chemical composition. The structure of disk stars (including the Sun) is dominated by light gases (hydrogen and helium), but there are small admixtures of heavier elements. These elements help speed up nuclear fusion in the core of a star, which leads to an increase in its luminosity. Unlike the population I stars closest to us, the stars in the central region (population II) contain very little metal, so they are dimmer, burn more slowly, and are mostly red and yellow.

CHAOTIC CENTER

Closer to the center of the Galaxy is a region dominated by special stars, more precisely, a whole population of old red and yellow stars, population II. And if the stars in the disk, as a rule, have circular orbits, then population II moves along more elongated, elliptical orbits with different angles of inclination. In some of these orbits, the stars move to considerable distances from the center.

The superposition of all these numerous orbits leads to the formation of a huge stellar ball, in which the distance between individual stars is calculated not in light years, but in sidereal days. In this case, the collision of stars occurs extremely rarely. The central part of the Milky Way is very similar to the so-called elliptical Galaxy.

This area has been shrouded in mystery for a long time, but the veil is gradually lifting, revealing something really strange to our eyes.

The planet Earth, the solar system, billions of other stars and celestial bodies - all this is our Milky Way galaxy - a huge intergalactic formation, where everything obeys the laws of gravity. Data on what the true size of the galaxy is only approximate. And the most interesting thing is that there are hundreds of such formations, large or smaller, in the Universe, maybe even thousands.

The Milky Way Galaxy and its surroundings

All celestial bodies, including the planets of the Milky Way, satellites, asteroids, comets and stars, are constantly in motion. Born in the cosmic vortex of the Big Bang, all these objects are on the way of their development. Some are older, while others are clearly younger.

The gravitational formation rotates around the center, while the individual parts of the galaxy rotate at different speeds. If in the center the speed of rotation of the galactic disk is rather moderate, then on the periphery this parameter reaches values ​​of 200-250 km/s. In one of these areas, closer to the center of the galactic disk, the Sun is located. The distance from it to the center of the galaxy is 25-28 thousand light years. A complete revolution around the central axis of the gravitational formation of the Sun and the solar system make for 225-250 million years. Accordingly, in the entire history of its existence, the solar system flew around the center only 30 times.

The place of the galaxy in the universe

One notable feature should be noted. The position of the Sun and, accordingly, the planet Earth is very convenient. In the galactic disk, the process of compaction is constantly going on. This mechanism is caused by a discrepancy between the speed of rotation of the spiral branches and the movement of stars that move within the galactic disk according to their own laws. During compaction, violent processes occur, accompanied by powerful ultraviolet radiation. The Sun and the Earth are comfortably located in a corotation circle, where there is no such violent activity: between two spiral branches on the border of the arms of the Milky Way - Sagittarius and Perseus. This also explains the calm in which we have been for such a long time. For more than 4.5 billion years we have not been affected by cosmic cataclysms.

The structure of the Milky Way galaxy

The galactic disk is not uniform in its composition. Like other spiral gravity systems, the Milky Way has three distinct regions:

• the core, formed by a dense star cluster, numbering a billion stars of different ages;
• the galactic disk itself, formed from clusters of stars, stellar gas and dust;
• corona, spherical halo - an area in which globular clusters, dwarf galaxies, individual groups of stars, cosmic dust and gas are located.

Near the plane of the galactic disk are young stars collected in clusters. The density of star clusters in the center of the disk is higher. Near the center, the density is 10,000 stars per cubic parsec. In the area where the solar system is located, the density of stars is already 1-2 luminaries per 16 cubic parsecs. As a rule, the age of these celestial bodies is no more than a few billion years.

Interstellar gas is also concentrated around the plane of the disk, subject to centrifugal forces. Despite the constant speed of rotation of the spiral arms, the interstellar gas is unevenly distributed, forming large and small zones of clouds and nebulae. However, the main galactic building material is dark matter. Its mass prevails over the total mass of all celestial bodies that make up the Milky Way galaxy.

If the diagram of the structure of the galaxy is clear enough and transparent, then in reality it is almost impossible to consider the central regions of the galactic disk. Gas and dust clouds and accumulations of stellar gas hide from our gaze the light from the center of the Milky Way, in which a real space monster lives - a supermassive black hole. The mass of this supergiant is approximately 4.3 million M☉. Next to the supergiant is a smaller black hole. Complementing this gloomy company are hundreds of dwarf black holes. The black holes of the Milky Way are not only eaters of stellar matter, but also serve as a maternity hospital, throwing huge clumps of protons, neutrons and electrons into space. It is from them that atomic hydrogen is formed - the main fuel of the star tribe.

Jumper - the bar is located in the region of the nucleus of the galaxy. Its length is 27 thousand light years. Old stars reign here, red giants, whose stellar matter feeds black holes. In this region, the main part of molecular hydrogen is concentrated, which is the main building material of the star formation process.

Geometrically, the structure of the galaxy looks quite simple. Each spiral arm, and there are four of them in the Milky Way, originates from a gas ring. The sleeves diverge at an angle of 20⁰. At the outer boundaries of the galactic disk, the main element is atomic hydrogen, which spreads from the center of the galaxy to the periphery. The thickness of the hydrogen layer on the outskirts of the Milky Way is much wider than in the center, while its density is extremely low. The rarefaction of the hydrogen layer is facilitated by the impact of dwarf galaxies, which have been inseparably following our galaxy for tens of billions of years.

Theoretical models of our galaxy

Even ancient astronomers tried to prove that the visible band in the sky is part of a huge stellar disk rotating around its center. This statement was facilitated by the ongoing mathematical calculations. It was possible to get an idea about our galaxy only thousands of years later, when instrumental methods of space exploration came to the aid of science. A breakthrough in the study of the nature of the Milky Way was the work of the Englishman William Herschel. In 1700, he was able to experimentally prove that our galaxy has the shape of a disk.

Already in our time, research has taken a different turn. Scientists relied on comparing the movement of stars, between which there was a different distance. Using the parallax method, Jacob Kaptein was able to roughly determine the diameter of the galaxy, which, according to his calculations, is 60-70 thousand light years. Accordingly, the place of the Sun was determined. It turned out that it is located relatively far from the raging center of the galaxy and at a decent distance from the periphery of the Milky Way.

The fundamental theory of the existence of galaxies is the theory of the American astrophysicist Edwin Hubble. He owns the idea of ​​classifying all gravitational formations, dividing them into elliptical galaxies and spiral-type formations. The last, spiral galaxies represent the most extensive group, which includes formations of various sizes. The largest of the recently discovered spiral galaxies is NGC 6872, whose diameter exceeds 552 thousand light years.

Expected future and forecasts

The Milky Way Galaxy looks like a compact and ordered gravitational formation. Unlike our neighbors, our intergalactic home is quite calm. Black holes systematically affect the galactic disk, reducing it in size. This process has already been going on for tens of billions of years, and how long it will continue is unknown. The only threat that hangs over our galaxy comes from its nearest neighbor. The Andromeda Galaxy is rapidly approaching us. Scientists suggest that the collision of two gravitational systems may occur in 4.5 billion years.

Such a meeting-merger will mean the end of the world in which we used to live. The Milky Way, which is smaller, will be swallowed up by the larger formation. Instead of two large spiral formations, a new elliptical galaxy will appear in the Universe. Until that time, our galaxy will be able to deal with its satellites. Two dwarf galaxies - the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds - will be swallowed up by the Milky Way in 4 billion years.

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

The cosmos that we are trying to study is a vast and boundless space in which there are tens, hundreds, thousands of trillions of stars united in certain groups. Our Earth does not live on its own. We are part of the solar system, which is a small particle and part of the Milky Way - a larger cosmic entity.

Our Earth, like other planets of the Milky Way, our star named the Sun, like other stars of the Milky Way, move in the Universe in a certain order and occupy the allotted places. Let's try to understand in more detail what is the structure of the Milky Way, and what are the main features of our galaxy?

Origin of the Milky Way

Our galaxy has its own history, like other areas of outer space, and is the product of a catastrophe on a universal scale. The main theory of the origin of the Universe that dominates the scientific community today is the Big Bang. The model that perfectly characterizes the Big Bang theory is the nuclear chain reaction at the microscopic level. Initially, there was some kind of substance, which, due to certain reasons, in an instant set in motion and exploded. It is not worth talking about the conditions that led to the onset of the explosive reaction. This is far from our understanding. Now formed 15 billion years ago as a result of a cataclysm, the Universe is a huge, endless polygon.

The primary products of the explosion were at first accumulations and clouds of gas. Later, under the influence of gravitational forces and other physical processes, the formation of larger objects of a universal scale took place. Everything happened very quickly by cosmic standards, over billions of years. First there was the formation of stars, which formed clusters and later coalesced into galaxies, the exact number of which is unknown. In its composition, galactic matter is hydrogen and helium atoms in the company of other elements, which are the building material for the formation of stars and other space objects.

It is not possible to say exactly where in the Universe the Milky Way is located, since the center of the universe is not exactly known.

Due to the similarity of the processes that formed the Universe, our galaxy is very similar in its structure to many others. By its type, this is a typical spiral galaxy, a type of objects that is common in the Universe in a huge variety. In terms of size, the galaxy is in the golden mean - not small and not huge. Our galaxy has many more smaller neighbors in a stellar home than those who are colossal in size.

The age of all galaxies that exist in outer space is the same. Our galaxy is almost the same age as the Universe and has an age of 14.5 billion years. During this vast period of time, the structure of the Milky Way has repeatedly changed, and this is happening today, only imperceptibly, in comparison with the pace of earthly life.

The history with the name of our galaxy is curious. Scientists believe that the name Milky Way is legendary. This is an attempt to connect the location of the stars in our sky with the ancient Greek myth about the father of the gods Kronos, who devoured his own children. The last child, who faced the same sad fate, turned out to be thin and was given to the nurse for fattening. During feeding, splashes of milk fell into the sky, thereby creating a milk path. Subsequently, scientists and astronomers of all times and peoples agreed that our galaxy is really very similar to a milky road.

The Milky Way is currently in the middle of its development cycle. In other words, cosmic gas and matter for the formation of new stars are coming to an end. The existing stars are still quite young. As in the story with the Sun, which may turn into a Red Giant in 6-7 billion years, our descendants will observe the transformation of other stars and the entire galaxy as a whole into the red sequence.

Our galaxy may also cease to exist as a result of another universal cataclysm. Topics of research in recent years are focused on the upcoming meeting of the Milky Way with our nearest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, in the distant future. It is likely that the Milky Way, after meeting with the Andromeda galaxy, will break up into several small galaxies. In any case, this will be the reason for the emergence of new stars and the reconstruction of the space closest to us. It remains only to guess what is the fate of the Universe and our galaxy in the distant future.

Astrophysical parameters of the Milky Way

In order to imagine what the Milky Way looks like on the scale of space, it is enough to look at the Universe itself and compare its individual parts. Our galaxy is part of a subgroup, which in turn is part of the Local Group, a larger entity. Here our space metropolis is adjacent to the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies. Surrounding the trinity are more than 40 small galaxies. The local group is already part of an even larger formation and is part of the Virgo supercluster. Some argue that these are only rough guesses about where our galaxy is. The scale of formations is so huge that it is almost impossible to imagine all this. Today we know the distance to the nearest neighboring galaxies. Other deep sky objects are out of sight. Only theoretically and mathematically their existence is allowed.

The location of the galaxy became known only thanks to approximate calculations that determined the distance to the nearest neighbors. The satellites of the Milky Way are dwarf galaxies - the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. In total, according to scientists, there are up to 14 satellite galaxies that make up the escort of the universal chariot called the Milky Way.

As for the observable world, today there is enough information about what our galaxy looks like. The existing model, and with it the map of the Milky Way, was compiled on the basis of mathematical calculations obtained from astrophysical observations. Each cosmic body or fragment of the galaxy takes its place. It's like the universe, only on a smaller scale. The astrophysical parameters of our space metropolis are interesting, and they are impressive.

Our galaxy is a spiral-type galaxy with a bar, which on star maps is denoted by the index SBbc. The diameter of the galactic disk of the Milky Way is about 50-90 thousand light years or 30 thousand parsecs. For comparison, the radius of the Andromeda galaxy is 110 thousand light years on the scale of the universe. One can only imagine how much larger the Milky Way is our neighbor. The dimensions of the dwarf galaxies closest to the Milky Way are ten times smaller than the parameters of our galaxy. Magellanic clouds have a diameter of only 7-10 thousand light years. In this huge stellar cycle, there are about 200-400 billion stars. These stars are collected in clusters and nebulae. A significant part of it is the arms of the Milky Way, in one of which our solar system is located.

Everything else is dark matter, clouds of cosmic gas and bubbles that fill interstellar space. The closer to the center of the galaxy, the more stars, the tighter space becomes. Our Sun is located in a region of space, consisting of smaller space objects located at a considerable distance from each other.

The mass of the Milky Way is 6x1042 kg, which is trillions of times the mass of our Sun. Almost all the stars that inhabit our stellar country are located in the plane of one disk, the thickness of which, according to various estimates, is 1000 light years. It is not possible to know the exact mass of our galaxy, since most of the visible spectrum of stars is hidden from us by the arms of the Milky Way. In addition, the mass of dark matter that occupies vast interstellar spaces is unknown.

The distance from the Sun to the center of our galaxy is 27 thousand light years. Being on the relative periphery, the Sun is rapidly moving around the center of the galaxy, making a complete revolution in 240 million years.

The center of the galaxy is 1000 parsecs in diameter and consists of a core with an interesting sequence. The center of the core has the shape of a bulge, in which the largest stars and a cluster of hot gases are concentrated. It is this region that releases a huge amount of energy, which in aggregate is more than the billions of stars that make up the galaxy radiate. This part of the core is the most active and brightest part of the galaxy. Along the edges of the core there is a jumper, which is the beginning of the arms of our galaxy. Such a bridge arises as a result of the colossal force of gravity caused by the rapid rotation of the galaxy itself.

Considering the central part of the galaxy, the following fact looks paradoxical. Scientists for a long time could not understand what is at the center of the Milky Way. It turns out that in the very center of a starry country called the Milky Way, a supermassive black hole has settled down, the diameter of which is about 140 km. It is there that most of the energy released by the core of the galaxy goes, it is in this bottomless abyss that the stars dissolve and die. The presence of a black hole at the center of the Milky Way indicates that all processes of formation in the Universe must someday end. Matter will turn into antimatter and everything will repeat again. How this monster will behave in millions and billions of years, the black abyss is silent, which indicates that the processes of absorption of matter are only gaining momentum.

Two main arms of the galaxy extend from the center - the Shield of the Centaur and Perseus. These structural formations were named after the constellations located in the sky. In addition to the main arms, the galaxy is surrounded by 5 more small arms.

Near and distant future

The arms, born from the core of the Milky Way, spiral outward, filling outer space with stars and cosmic material. An analogy with cosmic bodies that revolve around the Sun in our star system is appropriate here. A huge mass of stars, large and small, clusters and nebulae, cosmic objects of various sizes and nature, spins on a giant carousel. All of them create a wonderful picture of the starry sky, which a person has been looking at for more than one thousand years. When studying our galaxy, you should know that the stars in the galaxy live according to their own laws, being in one of the arms of the galaxy today, tomorrow they will start their journey in the other direction, leaving one arm and flying into another.

Earth in the Milky Way galaxy is far from the only planet suitable for life. This is just a particle of dust, the size of an atom, which was lost in the vast stellar world of our galaxy. There can be a huge number of such planets similar to Earth in the galaxy. It is enough to imagine the number of stars that somehow have their own stellar planetary systems. Other life may be far away, at the very edge of the galaxy, tens of thousands of light years away, or, conversely, be present in neighboring regions that are hidden from us by the arms of the Milky Way.