Here are 10 interesting facts about the Milky Way galaxy:
1. The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy approximately 100,000-120,000 light years in diameter. It contains over 200 billion stars.
2. At the center of the Milky Way is a supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* with a mass of about 4 million times that of our sun.
3. The Milky Way is on a collision course with the Andromeda galaxy. In about 4 billion years, the two galaxies will merge together to form a giant elliptical galaxy.
4. Our solar system resides about 26,000-30,000 light years from the galactic center, in one of the spiral arms called the Orion Arm.
5. The Milky Way rotates at a velocity of approximately 515,000 mph at its outer edges. It takes about 240 million years for it to complete one revolution.
6. The Milky Way contains at least 100 billion planets according to some estimates. Many of these planets may be capable of supporting life.
7. The Milky Way contains several star clusters, nebulae, black holes, neutron stars and other astronomical bodies and phenomena within its disk.
8. The Milky Way is the second largest galaxy in our Local Group of galaxies, behind the Andromeda Galaxy.
9. It would take light over 100,000 years to travel from one end of the Milky Way galaxy to the other, even at 186,000 miles per second.
10. Scientists believe that the Milky Way galaxy was formed between 10 to 13 billion years ago.
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