stars visable to the naked eye

[secure]

Are the stars that we see from the earth all part of the Milky Way galaxy? (My first time to post....please be patient with a "basics" question.)

 

[dark_energy]

No, some are from the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds. The Andromeda Galaxy just looks like a fuzzy patch from the Milky Way as do all nearby galaxies. If you're from the N.Hemisphere I'd say all the visible stars are from this galaxy. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[bbrock]

Yes, all stars you see with the naked eye are in the Milky Way. In fact, all stars are from our vicinity of the Milky Way, ie. Sagitarius, Orion and Perseus Arms of the Milky Way. We are located on the inner tip of the Orion Arm, which is a short spur arm located between the Sagitarius and Perseus Arms. Stars in the Magellanic Clouds require a telescope to resolve. Stars in globular clusters in orbit around the Milky Way also require a telescope to resolve, and then only the largest and brightest can be resolved. Any dots or fussy objects outside of this are not stars, but major deep space collections of stars. <br /><br />Bill

 

[secure]

Wow, kinda helps put things in perspective, don't it?

 

[odysseus145]

It sure does. We can on average only see about 2500 stars with the naked eye on any given night. There are about 200 billion stars in our galaxy alone, which is only one of countless galxies. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[dark_energy]

200 billion stars x 200 billion to 1 trillion galaxies = a lot of stars<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Maddad]

secure<br />For a first time poster, you asked an excellent question. Welcome to SDC!