Milky Way: how big is it?
Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years. In everyday terms, that is ≈ 105 million Solar Systems (to Neptune).
- Size
- 100,000 light-years
- In metres
- 9.46 × 10²⁰ m
- Everyday comparison
- ≈ 105 million Solar Systems (to Neptune)
- Chapter
- Galaxies
Did you know?
Our galaxy: about 100,000 light-years across, with 100 to 400 billion stars. The Sun is one of them.
How it compares
- About 3.2× bigger than Large Magellanic Cloud (31,700 light-years).
- About 2.2× smaller than Andromeda Galaxy (220,000 light-years).
Other things of a similar size
- Omega Centauri 150 light-years
- Large Magellanic Cloud 31,700 light-years
- Andromeda Galaxy 220,000 light-years
- Distance to Andromeda 2.54 million light-years
- Local Group 10 million light-years
- Virgo Cluster 14.8 million light-years
Sizes are rounded, typical values drawn from standard reference sources, including NIST/CODATA physical constants and NASA's planetary fact sheets. Real objects vary; see About for how sizes are chosen.