The Milky Way
It has over 200 billion stars.
The Milky Way is only a medium sized galaxy with an estimated 200 billion stars. The largest galaxy we know of is called IC 1101 and has over 100 trillion stars.
It’s almost as old as the Universe itself.
Scientists estimate that the Universe is about 13.7 billion years old and that the Milky Way is about 13.6 billion years old. Although the main parts of the galaxy were formed in the early days of the Universe, the disk and the bulge did not fully form until about 10-12 billion years ago.
It’s on the move.
Everything in space, including the Milky Way, is moving. The Earth moves around the Sun, the Sun moves in the Milky Way, and the Milky Way cruises through space. The Cosmic Microwave Background radiation, radiation left over from the Big Bang, is used as a reference point to measure the velocity of things moving in space. The Local Group of galaxies, which the Milky Way is part of, is estimated to be moving at about 600 km/s or 2.2 million km/hr!
It was made from other galaxies.
In order for the Milky Way to achieve its current size and shape it has consumed other galaxies throughout its history. Our galaxy is currently consuming the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy by adding the smaller galaxy’s stars to its own spiral.
