The Milky Way is the galaxy in which Earth is contained. This name derives from its appearance as a dim “milky” glowing band arching across the night sky, in which the naked eye cannot distinguish individual stars. The term “Milky Way” is a translation of the Classical Latin via lactea, from the Hellenistic Greek γαλαξίας κύκλος (pr. galaxías kýklos, “milky circle”). The Milky Way appears like a band because it is a disk-shaped structure being viewed from inside. The fact that this faint band of light is made up of stars was proven in 1610 when Galileo Galilei used his telescope to resolve it into individual stars. In the 1920s, observations by astronomer Edwin Hubble showed that the Milky Way is just one of many galaxies.
The fairy chimneys are seen with light illuminations created with different techniques in Cappadocia, Nevsehir, Turkiye on August 01, 2024. Fairy chimneys are formed by volcanic eruptions and erosions over millions of years and are considered as one of the unique characteristics of the geography. (Photo by Harun Ozalp/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Men dressed as soldiers pose with models before the opening of the Gamescom 2013 fair in Cologne,Germany, on August 23, 2013. The Gamescom convention is Europe's largest video games trade fair. (Photo by Ina Fassbender/Reuters)
A full moon rises behind Glastonbury Tor as people gather to celebrate the summer solstice on June 20, 2016 in Somerset, England. Tonight's strawberry moon, a name given to the full moon in June by Native Americans because it marks the beginning of strawberry picking season, last occurred on the solstice on June 22, 1967 and it will not happen again on the summer solstice for another 46 years until June 21, 2062. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
Doris Dean of Chicago, Ill., sits with her gun shortly after she won a 50 meter, 40-shot event for women with a perfect 400 score at the National Rifle Association (NRA) matches at Camp Perry, near Toledo, Ohio, September 7, 1941. (Photo by AP Photo/DW)
A skier in a costume attempts to cross a pool of water at the foot of a ski slope while competing in the annual “Gornoluzhnik” amateur event marking the end of the ski season, at the Bobrovy Log ski resort in the suburbs of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, April 16, 2017. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)