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The Milky Way

By Jenna Beans

  • Galileo Obsevered the Milky Way

    In 1610 Galileo obsevered the Milky Way through a telescope discovering that it was made up of a countles amount of stars.

  • Suggested Shape of the Milky Way

    Immanuel Kant suggested that the Milky way is a lens-shaped group of stars. Many others like it exsist throughout the universe.

  • Conclusion of the Milky Way's Shape

    William Herschel concluded that the Milky Way is a disk shape but also mistakenly discovered that the Earths solar system was the center of the Milky Way.

  • Corrected Mistakes

    Harlow Shapley corrected William Herschel's theory that the Earth's solar system is in the center of the Milky Way when realy it is only on the fringe of the galaxy

  • Existence of Other Galaxies Proven

    Edwin Powell Hubble proved that other galaxies exsist. Discovering that there is a grouping of stars in the Milky Way that is a whole other galaxy known as the Andromeda Galaxy.

  • Barred-Spiral Shaped Galaxy

    The Milky Way is a barred-spiral shaped galaxy. Meaning it is shaped like a pinwheel with a bar-shaped center made up of stars.

  • Hot Gas Fountain

    Astronomers discovered a fountain of hot gas and anti-matter shooting 3,500 light years out of the center of the Milky Way, perpendicular to the disk.

  • How Old?

    Discoveries were made proving that the Milky Way is about 13.6 billion years old.

  • Andromeda Galaxy

    Astronomers revealed that ther Andromeda Galaxy will collide with the Milky Way in four billion years. The collision will cause stars from both galaxies to scatter and within two billion years the stars will reform, creating one single galaxy.