Milky Way
The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy containing hundreds of billions of stars, including our Solar System.
30.66 kpcDiameterWorlds apart
Milky Way vs Planetary Solar System
What are they, and what does the difference actually look like?
Two things. One honest scale.
Meet the pair
What these two things are
Planetary Solar System
The Solar System is the collection of the Sun and all objects gravitationally bound to it, including planets, moons, and smaller bodies.
60.22 AUDiameterMilky Way has about 105,000,000 times the diameter of Planetary Solar System.
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Milky Way30.66 kpcDiameter
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Planetary Solar System60.22 AUDiameter
Inset ×36,000,000Planetary Solar System is too small to see clearly at this scale. The ring marks its position; only the inset is enlarged.
Measurements, assumptions & sources +
Milky Way
A rounded 100,000 light-year span of the stellar disk. Faint stars and the dark-matter halo extend farther; galaxies have no crisp rim.
The marked diameter is calibrated. Unmeasured illustration details are representative.
Planetary Solar System
A schematic diameter spanning Neptune’s orbit. The Solar System also includes much more distant bodies. The illustration is a boundary diagram; dots identify objects or regions and do not depict their physical diameters.
Defined examples — our methodology
The marked diameter is calibrated. Unmeasured illustration details are representative.
Change the comparison
Put something else beside it.
Measurement details
Why these numbers?
The visual compares diameter with diameter. The records below preserve each value’s basis and caveats.
Milky Way
30.66 kpcDiameter · approximate
A rounded 100,000 light-year span of the stellar disk. Faint stars and the dark-matter halo extend farther; galaxies have no crisp rim.
Planetary Solar System
60.22 AUDiameter · rounded reference
A schematic diameter spanning Neptune’s orbit. The Solar System also includes much more distant bodies. The illustration is a boundary diagram; dots identify objects or regions and do not depict their physical diameters.
- Comparing
- Diameter ↔ Diameter
- Relative size
- Milky Way is larger on this measurement by a factor of about 105,000,000.
How to read the visual
The labelled spans and stored measurements determine the scale; unmeasured illustration details do not.
- Milky Way is labelled approximate; treat the displayed value as a comparison anchor rather than false precision.
- Planetary Solar System is labelled rounded reference; treat the displayed value as a comparison anchor rather than false precision.
There’s always another scale
Follow your curiosity.
SpaceMilky Way30.66 kpcThe Milky Way is a spiral galaxy containing hundreds of billions of stars, including our Solar System.SpacePlanetary Solar System60.22 AUThe Solar System is the collection of the Sun and all objects gravitationally bound to it, including planets, moons, and smaller bodies.
SpaceSun1,391,000 kmThe Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System.
SpaceDistance to the galactic centre7.972 kpcThis is the distance from the Solar System to the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.SpaceAndromeda galaxy79.72 kpcThe Andromeda galaxy, also called M31, is the nearest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way.
SpaceObservable universe28.21 GpcThe observable universe is the region from which light or other signals have had time to reach us since the early universe.SpaceEarth–Sun distance1 AUThe Earth–Sun distance, or astronomical unit, is the standard measure of separation between Earth and the Sun used in astronomy.Side by side
Another point of view.
