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SpaceSurprise 5/5Difficulty 3/5Reviewed on September 14, 2026

The Milky Way is an elliptical galaxy.

Why it is true

The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy, about 100,000 light-years in diameter. It has a central core crossed by a bar of stars and four main arms where new stars form. The Sun is in one of the arms.

Source: ESA

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