What Is the Milky Way?
The “Galaxy,” or “Milky Way,” as it is popularly called, is a luminous circle extending completely around the heavens. It is produced by myriads of stars, as can be seen when you look at it through a telescope. It divides into two great branches at one point, which travel for some distance separately and then reunite. It has also several branches. At one point it spreads out very widely into a fanlike shape.