Structure of Milky Way
Galaxies have three common shapes: elliptical, spiral, and irregular. Elliptical galaxies have an ovoid or globular shape and generally contain older stars. Spiral galaxies are disk-shaped with arms that curve around their edges, making these galaxies look like whirlpools. Spiral galaxies contain both old and young stars as well as numerous clouds of dust and gas from which new stars are born. Irregular galaxies have no regular structure. Astronomers believe that their structures were distorted by collisions with other galaxies. Astronomers classify the Milky Way as a large spiral or possibly a barred spiral galaxy, with several spiral arms coiling around a central bulge about 10,000 light-years thick. Stars in the central bulge are close together, while those in the arms are farther apart. The arms also contain clouds of interstellar dust and gas. The disk is about 100,000 light-years in diameter and is surrounded by a larger cloud of hydrogen gas. Surrounding this cloud in turn is