How Big Is Our Galaxy?

Answer:

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! (1 Kings 8:27)

Job 9:9, 38:31

Amos 5:8

Our galaxy is very big. A galaxy is not the universe, which is much bigger and contains all the galaxies. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way. It is about 100,000 light years across (1 light year = almost 5.878625 trillion miles). It is thought that 200–400 billion stars are within the Milky Way.

Compared to other galaxies, the Milky Way is actually a middle-sized one. There are some very large galaxies with stars estimated in the trillions.

There are smaller galaxies, too. Some are so small and near our own galaxy so they are considered satellites of the Milky Way. The stars used for constellations (like Orion, Bear, and Pleiades) are found within our own galaxy. Very few things can be seen with the naked eye outside of our galaxy, but there are a few things like the Andromeda Galaxy and Magellanic Clouds.