What is a galaxy?

We live on a planet called Earth that is part of our solar system. But where is our solar system? It's a small part of the Milky Way Galaxy.

And our galaxy is just one of millions and millions. Find out more about what a galaxy is and how many there are.

Make a pinwheel galaxy pinwheel!

Answer your questions:

Activities

The Universe

Outer Space

Exploration

Everything!

• What Is the James Webb Space Telescope? The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest, most powerful space telescope ever built. explore
• NASA Activity Books Become a NASA Space Place Explorer with these printable activity books. do
• Color Your Universe: Find the Hidden Objects Can you find all the NASA and space-themed hidden objects? play
• What Are Constellations? Learn more about what these groups of stars can (and can’t) tell us about our place in the universe. explore
• How Scary Is Space? Check out these nine unearthly nightmares that could be happening right now in our own galaxy. Eek! explore
• Is Time Travel Possible? Airplanes and satellites can experience changes in time! Read on to find out more. explore
• What Powers a Spacecraft? It all depends on what the spacecraft will do! Read on to learn more. explore
• What Is a Transit? A transit is when one object in space crosses in front of another object in space. The Moon transits the Sun during an eclipse, but did you know that other objects can transit, too? Learn more in this article.
• How Old Are Galaxies? Most galaxies formed more than 10 billion years ago! Learn about how we find the age of galaxies using light.
• What Is a Light-Year? A light-year is the distance light travels in one Earth year. Learn about how we use light-years to measure the distance of objects in space. explore
• What Is a Nebula? A nebula is a cloud of dust and gas in space.
• How Many Solar Systems Are in Our Galaxy? Astronomers have discovered 2,500 so far, but there are likely to be many more! explore
• What Is a Supernova? Learn more about these exploding stars! explore
• What Is a Gravitational Wave? How do gravitational waves give us a new way to learn about the universe? explore
• What Is an Exoplanet? What is an exoplanet? And how do we know they're out there? explore
• Searching for Other Planets Like Ours Exoplanets are far away and hard to see. How do we look for them? explore
• Types of Galaxies Explore the different types of galaxies! explore
• What Is a Barycenter? And how does it help us find new planets? explore
• Make Stretchy Universe Slime! Make the universe stretch and expand! do
• What Is Dark Matter? and dark energy, too! explore
• Make a Pinwheel Galaxy Pinwheel A galaxy in the palm of your hand do
• What Is a Galaxy? How many are there? explore
• What Is the Big Bang? Why do we call it that? explore
• Where Does Interstellar Space Begin? Interstellar space begins where the sun’s magnetic field stops affecting its surroundings. explore
• What Is a Satellite Galaxy? What are they and what will become of them? explore
• Build your own spacecraft! Become a NASA engineer! do
• A Planet Without a Sun? Astronomers may have found a planet without a sun! explore
• What Is a Black Hole? Space Place in a Snap tackles this fascinating question! explore
• What Is a Planet? The answer isn't so simple. explore
• Make a Galactic Mobile Let the beauty of the galaxies shine in your room. do
• Write your own zany adventure story! Write your own zany adventure story! play
• Gallery of NASA Universe Images Galaxies, nebulae, and supernova remnants to view or print. explore
• What Is Gravity? Gravity is the force by which a planet or other body draws objects toward its center. explore
• NASA Pumpkin Stencils Paint pumpkins with space and Earth science designs do
• Printable Space Valentines Share these with your friends and family! do
• Explore the Electromagnetic Spectrum The windows show the Universe in all its colors. explore
• Make colorful star cookies! Find out why stars aren't all the same color. do
• A real shooting star! Is Mira the zippiest star in the galaxy? explore
• Build a physics machine! And learn about conservation of oomph! do
• Make a Galaxy Montage Make a colorful work of galactic art. do
• Roman Space Observer Catch as many astrophysical objects and phenomena as possible in this game! This link takes you away from NASA Space Place. play Links out
• Build a model spacecraft to explore the universe! Paper models of the great space observatories and explorers of the universe. This link takes you away from NASA Space Place. print Links out
• StarChild A learning center for young astronomers. This link takes you away from NASA Space Place. Links out