The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with a diameter between 150,000 and 200,000 light-years (ly). It is estimated to contain 100–۴۰۰ billion stars and more than 100 billion planets. The Solar System is located at a radius of 26,490 (± ۱۰۰) light-years from the Galactic Center, on the inner edge of the Orion Arm, one of the spiral-shaped concentrations of gas and dust.
The stars in the innermost 10,000 light-years form a bulge and one or more bars that radiate from the bulge.
The galactic center is an intense radio source known as Sagittarius A*, assumed to be a supermassive black hole of ۴.۱۰۰ (± ۰.۰۳۴) million solar masses.
