Images Dated 31st March 2003

The Milky Way and some of its famous members

Artwork of our galaxy, the Milky Way. The position within the galaxy of some well known objects is also shown: supernova remnants with their peculiar objects (black holes and neutron stars) SS433, M1, Tycho, Vela and G109.1-1.0; starbirth regions W3 and Orion; a young powerful star, Eta Carinae, and the Pleiades, a cluster of newly-born stars. The Milky Way contains at least 100 billion stars and may be divided into three regions: the central bulge (white-yellow at centre), the disc with the spiral arms and the galactic halo (not shown). The central bulge is populated by old stars whereas the disc contains young stars and a higher density of open star clusters and interstellar gas

© JULIAN BAUM/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY