50+ Absolutely Stunning Photos of the Milky Way Galaxy in the Sky

Spanning some 120,000–180,000 light-years in diameter, the Milky Way galaxy is our cosmic home.  Our planet and the Solar system are on the Orion Arm of the Milky Way, which is roughly 27,000 light-years away from the Galactic Center.  During clear nights we can see a whole cluster of stars from our galaxy which run across the horizon.

50+ Absolutely Stunning Photos of the Milky Way Galaxy in the Sky #Space @SciencePorn Click To Tweet

All this light and stars that we can see from the cosmos above interestingly is only 10% of the entire galaxy.  The rest 90% is dark matter per most scientists!

The bright and beautiful Milky Way of ours has over 200 billion stars, which makes it a medium sized galaxy.  There are some large ones which have far more – like the IC 1101,with over 100 trillion stars!  When we look above on a starry night we see some of those 200 billion stars of our galaxy in that lighted cluster!  Some photographers have tried to capture the milky way from across the planet.  Photos that are nothing short of stunning!  Here are 51 of those which will not just help you marvel about our own planet but its place in the overall cosmic perspective.

Gallery of Milky Way Galaxy Photos