The Milky Way - Our Galactic Home — Passage
The Milky Way is our home galaxy, a vast collection of stars, planets, gas, and dust. It's so big that it's hard to imagine - scientists think it contains between 100 and 400 billion stars! Our Sun is just one of these many stars, located in one of the Milky Way's spiral arms.
If you look up at the night sky from a dark place, you might see a faint, milky band stretching across the sky. This is how our galaxy got its name - it looks like a trail of spilled milk. But what you're really seeing is the light from millions of stars that are too far away to see individually.
The Milky Way is shaped like a giant spiral, with a bulge in the center and long arms spiraling outward. These arms are where most of the stars, including our Sun, are found. At the very center of our galaxy is a supermassive black hole, which is like a giant cosmic vacuum cleaner.
Our galaxy is always moving. It takes about 225 million years for our Sun to make one complete trip around the Milky Way. That's a long time! The last time our Sun was in this same spot, dinosaurs were just beginning to appear on Earth.
Scientists are still learning new things about our galaxy. They use powerful telescopes and spacecraft to study its structure, composition, and history. By understanding our own galaxy better, we can learn more about the universe and our place in it.
What is the main idea of this passage?
The Milky Way is made of milkThe Milky Way is only visible during the dayThe Milky Way is smaller than other galaxiesThe Milky Way is our home galaxy and is full of interesting featuresWhich detail supports the idea that the Milky Way is very large?
It contains between 100 and 400 billion starsIt's shaped like a spiralIt has a black hole at the centerIt's visible from EarthHow did the Milky Way get its name?
Because it's made of milkBecause it looks like spilled milk in the night skyBecause it's white in colorBecause it contains dairy farmsWhat shape is the Milky Way?
SquareCircleSpiralTriangleHow long does it take for our Sun to go around the Milky Way once?
One dayOne yearOne million years225 million yearsWhy do scientists study the Milky Way?
To find alien lifeTo learn more about the universe and our place in itTo plan space vacationsTo make better telescopesCommon core standards covered
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