Concept explainers
Explain why we see the Milky Way as a faint band of light stretching across the sky.
To explain:
The reason for the Milky Way to be visible as a faint band of light across the sky.
Explanation of Solution
Milky Way is the home galaxy to the Solar system. Milky Way is a spiral shaped galaxy and contains hundred billion stars. It is about 13.5 billion years old. It is about 30 kpc in diameter.
Solar system lies in the outer regions of the Milky Way in the Orion arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The galactic center if about 8.4kpc away from the Sun.
It is named as Milky Way because of its appearance in the night sky. It appears as a hazy white band of clouds with billions of stars embedded in it. From the Earth, the other arm of the Milky Way is visible. That is why, it appears as a band of stars.
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