What kind of galaxy is the Milky Way?
The Milky Way is a spiral-shaped galaxy, meaning it is shaped like a pinwheel. It is approximately one hundred thousand light years in diameter and two thousand light years thick from top to bottom. It has a group of objects at the center, surrounded by halo and invisible cloud of dark matter, with four arms spiraling out from the center. The spiral shape is formed because the entire galaxy is rotating, with the stars at the outer edges forming the arms.
