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A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. [ 1 ][ 2 ] The word is derived from the Greek galaxias (γαλαξίας), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System.
The Milky Way[ c ] is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye.
An astronomical coordinate system commonly used to specify the apparent positions, orbits, and axial orientations of objects within the Solar System, with an origin at the geometric center of either the Sun or the Earth, a fundamental plane defined by the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun (i.e. the plane of the ecliptic), a primary ...
A galaxy is a large gravitational aggregation of stars, dust, gas, and an unknown component termed dark matter. The Milky Way Galaxy [3] is only one of the billions of galaxies in the known universe. Galaxies are classified into spirals, [4] ellipticals, irregular, and peculiar. Sizes can range from only a few thousand stars (dwarf irregulars ...
Astrobiology (also xenology or exobiology), is a scientific field within the life and environmental sciences that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe by investigating its deterministic conditions and contingent events. [2] As a discipline, astrobiology is founded on the premise that life may ...
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to astronomy: Astronomy – studies the universe beyond Earth, including its formation and development, and the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects (such as galaxies, planets, etc.) and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of ...
The galactic coordinate system uses the approximate plane of the Milky Way Galaxy as its fundamental plane. The Solar System is still the center of the coordinate system, and the zero point is defined as the direction towards the Galactic Center. Galactic latitude resembles the elevation above the galactic plane and galactic longitude ...
The galactic coordinate system is a celestial coordinate system in spherical coordinates, with the Sun as its center, the primary direction aligned with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the fundamental plane parallel to an approximation of the galactic plane but offset to its north. It uses the right-handed convention ...