10The Milky Way Is (Mostly) Flat

Our galaxy is, on average, a hundred thousand light-years across but only a thousand light-years thick. 

Within this flattened (though somewhat warped) disc, the sun and its planets are embedded in a curving arm of gas and dust, putting the solar system about 26,000 light-years away from the galaxy’s turbulent core. A bulge of dust and stars swaddles the galactic center, looking like a dollop of whipped cream plopped on both sides of a pancake.

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