Do you enjoy looking up at the night sky? On clear evenings, there’s nothing more exciting than gazing at the stars. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should definitely give it a go the next time you stay up late!
Sometimes, when it’s really dark and you’re far away from city lights, you can see something special in the sky. It looks like a thin, cloudy stripe stretching across the sky. A long time ago, scientists thought it looked like someone had spilled milk up there, so they called it the Milky Way. But what exactly is the Milky Way, and why does it look milky?
When you see the Milky Way at night, you’re actually looking at part of the galaxy we live in. A galaxy is a gigantic group of stars and their planets, all hanging out together in space. Our sun is a star too, and it’s the closest one to Earth. But it’s just one of the many stars in our galaxy.
How many stars are there in the Milky Way? Billions! That’s an enormous number. Even if you started counting right now and kept going until you reached a billion, it would take you over 30 years. And there are many billions of stars in the Milky Way!
The Milky Way galaxy is huge, and the sun and Earth are part of it. But how can we see the Milky Way at night if we’re actually in it? It’s kind of like standing at your front door. If you look in one direction, you can see part of your neighborhood. If you look in another direction, you see a different part. But you can’t see your whole neighborhood at once because it’s too big. You can only see parts of it at a time.
All the stars in the Milky Way make a huge, flat spiral, shaped like a spinning plate. The sun and Earth sit near the edge of that spiral. So, when we look up at the night sky, we can see some of the far-away stars in the Milky Way between us and the edge of the spiral. Other times, we see stars between us and the middle of the spiral.
If you want to see the Milky Way for yourself, find a place without many houses, cars, or streetlights. Bright lights can make it hard to see the stars at night. When Squeaks and I want to look at the stars, we like to go camping. And you know what camping means? S’mores!
Make sure to go on a clear night because clouds can block your view of the stars. Look up until you see the light, milky strand in the middle of the sky. It’s easiest to see between June and August because that’s when Earth is facing the middle of the galaxy, which is the brightest part. But you can see parts of our home galaxy pretty much any time of the year because we live in the Milky Way, so it’s always there!
Thanks for joining us on this adventure in the Milky Way. See you next time!
Star Counting Adventure: On a clear night, go outside with a family member or friend and try to count as many stars as you can see in a small part of the sky. Use a piece of paper to draw a circle and count the stars inside it. Discuss how many stars you think might be in the whole sky and compare it to the billions of stars in the Milky Way. This will help you understand just how vast our galaxy is!
Create Your Own Galaxy: Use a paper plate and some craft supplies like glitter, stickers, or paint to create your own version of the Milky Way. Think about the spiral shape of our galaxy and try to recreate it. Once you’re done, share your galaxy with someone and explain what you learned about the Milky Way.
Neighborhood Exploration: Just like we can only see parts of the Milky Way from Earth, you can explore your own neighborhood. Walk around your block and notice different things you see in each direction. Discuss how this is similar to looking at different parts of the Milky Way from our planet.
