What is the Milky Way made of?

The Milky Way consists of stars, planets, satellites, comets, meteors, gases, dust and interstellar matter.

The Milky Way is the star system where the solar system is located, including150-400 billion stars, a large number of star clusters and nebulae, and various types of interstellar gas, interstellar dust and black holes. Its total visible mass is 2 1000 billion times that of the sun.

90% of the matter in the Milky Way is stars. There are many kinds of stars. According to physical properties, chemical composition, spatial distribution and motion characteristics, stars can be divided into five star groups. The youngest extreme group I stars are mainly distributed on the spiral arms in the silver disk; The oldest extreme group II stars are mainly distributed in silver halos. Stars often gather in clusters. In addition to a large number of binary stars, more than 1000 clusters have been found in the Milky Way. There are also gases and dust in the Milky Way, accounting for about 10% of the total mass of the Milky Way. The distribution of gas and dust is uneven, some gather into nebulae, while others are scattered in interstellar space.

Main constellations:

The projection of the Milky Way in the sky is like a shining river flowing in the sky, so it was called the Milky Way or Tianhe in ancient times. You can see the Milky Way all year round, but at the turn of summer and autumn, you can see the brightest and most spectacular part of the Milky Way.

The main constellations that the Milky Way galaxy passes through are Cygnus, Eagle, Fox, Sagittarius, Ophiuchus, Shield, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Aquarius, Rectangular, Wolf, Triangular, Compass, Fly, Southern Cross, Vela, Tail, Unicorn, Orion and Taurus.

The Milky Way has different shades and widths in the sky. The narrowest is only 4 ~ 5, and the widest is about 30. For the northern hemisphere, the important symbol of the starry sky in summer is the Milky Way, a light belt extending from the northeast horizon to the south horizon, and a "summer triangle" consisting of three bright stars in the Milky Way: Vega, Altair and Tianjin. In summer, the Milky Way stretches from the east to the north of Scorpio and crosses the sky. Magnificent, magnificent. But it can only be seen in the wild without light interference (the apparent magnitude limit is above 5.5). In winter, the Milky Way is very dark (in Orion and Canis major), but in the sky, you can see the bright Orion and the bright "winter triangle" composed of Sirius, Betelgeuse and Nanhe.

All-day 88 constellations:

Polar constellations in the northern sky: Ursa minor, Ursa major, Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Draco.

Polaris constellation: Andromeda, Perseus, Five Immortals, Scorpion, Deer Leopard, Fox, Auriga, Shepherd, Canine, Little Lion, Backward Constellation, Northern Corona, Tmall, Lyra, Cygnus, Sagittarius, Dolphin, Pegasus and Triangle.

Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.

Twelve constellations: Sagittarius, Canine, Eagle, Ophiuchus, Ophiuchus, Sextant, Unicorn, Orion and Whale.

Southern Constellations: Temple of Heaven, Tian Yan, Crane, Pigeon, Rabbit, Furnace, Picture Frame, Pump, Carver, Telescope, Microscope, Square Ruler, Compass, Clock, Mountain Watch, Seal, Flying Fish, Swordfish, Fly and Dragonfly.