Milky Way size and scale context

The Milky Way is the barred spiral galaxy that contains the Solar System. One circuit of our system around the galaxy takes about 230 million years, so Earth has completed only about twenty galactic years since it formed. Read its scale context, comparisons, and journey links on the canonical object page.

Tarantula NebulaStar-forming nebula·1,000 ly

Sculptor Dwarf GalaxyDwarf spheroidal galaxy·3,300 ly

Small Magellanic CloudDwarf irregular galaxy·18,892 ly

Large Magellanic CloudDwarf irregular galaxy·32,200 ly

Milky WayBarred spiral galaxy·100,000 ly

Andromeda GalaxyBarred spiral galaxy·152,000 ly

Scroll up for smaller

Scroll down for larger

Between the smallest and the largest, perspective is everything.

About

Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.

Guides turn parts of that scale into curated essays, while focused views let you explore the same range through specific groups of objects.

Editorial

Solar System Planets From Electron to Atoms Stars To Scale Birth And Death Of Stars Black Holes To Scale

Views

Planets of the Solar System Stars of the Universe Black holes Subatomic scale

Open Scale of Space Browse all comparisons

Between the smallest and the largest, perspective is everything.

About

Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.

Guides turn parts of that scale into curated essays, while focused views let you explore the same range through specific groups of objects.

Editorial

Solar System Planets From Electron to Atoms Stars To Scale Birth And Death Of Stars Black Holes To Scale

Views

Planets of the Solar System Stars of the Universe Black holes Subatomic scale

Open Scale of Space Browse all comparisons

Galaxies

Large Magellanic Cloud

The Large Magellanic Cloud is a nearby satellite galaxy laced with vast star-forming regions and supernova debris. It contains the Tarantula Nebula, the most productive stellar nursery in the Local Group, and it hosted SN 1987A, the closest observed supernova since 1604.

Scale fact32,200 lydiameter

Object class: Dwarf irregular galaxy
Host: Local Group
Composition: ~20 billion stars, gas, dust, dark matter

Galaxies

Milky Way

Scale fact100,000 lystellar disk diameter

Object class: Barred spiral galaxy
Composition: ~100–400 billion stars, gas, dust, dark matter
Estimated age: ~13.6 billion years
Host: Local Group

Galaxies

Andromeda Galaxy

Andromeda is the nearest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way and the biggest heavyweight in our immediate neighborhood. Hubble measurements show it is already falling toward us, setting up a galaxy collision that should begin in about 4 billion years.

Scale fact152,000 lydiameter

Object class: Barred spiral galaxy
Composition: ~1 trillion stars, gas, dust, dark matter
Estimated age: ~10 billion years
Host: Local Group