Milky Way
noun Astronomy.
the spiral galaxy containing our solar system. With the naked eye it is observed as a faint luminous band stretching across the heavens, composed of approximately a trillion stars, most of which are too distant to be seen individually.
Origin of Milky Way
1350–1400; Middle English, translation of Latin
via lactea; cf.
galaxy
Example sentences from the Web for milky way
British Dictionary definitions for milky way
Milky Way
noun the Milky Way
the diffuse band of light stretching across the night sky that consists of millions of faint stars, nebulae, etc, within our Galaxy
another name for the Galaxy
Word Origin for Milky Way
C14: translation of Latin
via lactea
Scientific definitions for milky way
Milky Way
[ mĭl′kē ]
The spiral galaxy that contains our solar system. Made up of an estimated two hundred billion stars or more, it is seen from Earth as an irregular band of hazy light across the night sky. The solar system is located in one of the revolving spiral arms, about 50 light-years north of the galactic plane and some 27,700 light-years from the galaxy's center, which lies in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. It takes approximately 250 million years for the solar system to orbit the galactic center, which is believed to contain a massive black hole. The Milky Way measures about 100,000 light-years in diameter and is the second largest galaxy, after the Andromeda Galaxy, in the cluster known as the Local Group. See also spiral galaxy.