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← Astronomy – Grade 8
CLASS 8 · LEARNING KNOWLEDGE

Milky Way and Star Systems – Basics and Principles

How it works

The Milky Way is our home galaxy, one of billions of galaxies in the universe. It consists of hundreds of billions of stars, gas, dust and dark matter. The Milky Way has a disk-shaped structure with a central bulge and spiral arms. Our solar system is located in one of the spiral arms, about 27.000 light years from the center. Star systems are groups of stars that are gravitationally bound, such as binary stars or star clusters. Galaxies are larger systems that contain many star systems, gas and dust. Observing the Milky Way in the night sky shows it as a bright band because we live in the disk and look along it.

Note
The Milky Way is a galaxy with a disk-shaped structure in which our solar system lies; star systems are gravitationally bound groups of stars, while galaxies are larger units made up of many star systems, gas and dust.

An example

What do you call the large collection of stars, gas and dust to which our solar system belongs?

The correct answer is 'Milky Way' because our solar system is part of this galaxy, which consists of billions of stars, gas and dust.

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50 Exercises

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Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: Astronomy. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.