Australia's Rhiannon Clarke reacts in the rain after the women's T38 400-meters final at Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Saturday, September 4, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)
A young Sikh boy shouts religious slogans during a procession ahead of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in Jammu, India, Wednesday, November 21, 2018. The birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism and first Sikh guru, will be marked on Nov. 23. (Photo by Channi Anand/AP Photo)
University students demonstrate against the crisis in the public education, budget cuts and a tax reform project announced by the government of Ivan Duque in Medellin, Colombia on December 13, 2018. (Photo by Joaquín Sarmiento/AFP Photo)
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.
Alejandro Simon of Spain prepares to serve during their Preliminary Phase Pool E match against Canada during the VISA FIVB Beach Volleyball International at Horse Guards Parade on August 10, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Scott Heavey/Getty Images)
Historical reenactor Troy Kotz poses with a mug of wassail in the parlor of the Guyon-Lake-Tysen House during the annual Candlelight Tour of Historic Richmond Town, Saturday, December 13, 2014, in the Staten Island borough of New York. The annual event lets visitors experience an authentic Victorian Christmas. This image was made using the TinType by Hipstamatic iPhone app. (Photo by Chad Rachman/New York Post)