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How big is the Milky Way?

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The Milky Way is a large galaxy comprising an estimated 200 billion stars (some estimates range as high as 400 billion) arrayed in the form of a disk, with a central elliptical bulge (some 12,000 light-years in diameter) of closely packed stars lying in the direction of Sagittarius. It is surrounded by a flat disk marked by six spiral armsÑfour major and two minorÑwhich wind out from the nucleus like a giant pinwheel.

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