Definition of milky way Milky way
Milk•y Way
We found 4 definitions of milky way from 4 different sources.
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What does milky way mean?
WordNet
Noun |
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| milky way - the galaxy containing the solar system; consists of millions of stars that can be seen as a diffuse band of light stretching across the night sky | ||
| Milky Way Galaxy, Milky Way System | ||
| extragalactic nebula, galaxy a splendid assemblage (especially of famous people) | ||
| heliosphere the region inside the heliopause containing the sun and solar system | ||
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OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω
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milky way
Spiral galaxy in which the Solar System is located.
Sailor's Word-BookThe Sailor's Word-Book ⛵
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milky way
See VIA LACTEA.
Wikipedia 
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The Milky Way is the galaxy that our Sun and we live in. It is named for the very bright band of stars that are best seen in the Southern Hemisphere. This band looks like milk. From there, the bright centre of the galaxy can be seen. In the Northern Hemisphere its edge can be seen. Since the Sun and Earth are about three quarters of the way to the edge, and since there are few stars at the edge, there is a very big difference in brightness.
The name of the "Milky Way" comes from the Latin language, and it is a translation of "Via Lactea". This name was taken from the Greek word "Galaxia" (galax means "milk").
A galaxy is a big group of millions of stars that all orbit around their galactic centre, like planets orbit a star. It probably takes millions of years for a star to go all the way around the galaxy, and 225 million years for the sun to go around the galaxy.
These cycles are important, because different areas of the galaxy have more asteroids, that will become meteors if they hit the Earth's atmosphere. Very large ones can do horrible damage - many scientists believe dinosaurs were made extinct by an asteroid that hit Earth about 65 million years ago. About every 30 million years, astronomers believe, the Sun and Earth go through a part of the galaxy that has more asteroids. At this time there is great danger. This is supposed to be coming up soon, either right now or in million years (nobody really knows) - but certainly before five million years.
Another way the Milky
