What part of the milky way is the earth's solar system?

Question

Is it in the galactic halo, the thick disk, the thin disc, or the extreme disc

Answer 1

We are in one of the galactic arms of the Milky Way, the Orion arm to be specific roughly about two-thirds of the way out from the galactic centre.  We are definitely nowhere near the galactic hub as the arms extend outward from the centre.

Answer 2

Since we can't travel outside of our Milky-Way galaxy and look at it from "above" (heck, we've barely begun sending probes to the edge of our own solar system), other means must be used to determine its shape and our position in it.

Astronomers are able to determine the position of our solar system within the Milky-Way by tracing the motions the galaxy's stars and gas clouds.   Using optical, radio, and infra-red telescopes, astronomers trace the motion of "chunks" of the Milky-way towards and away from us by looking at the doppler shift the light coming from these objects as they float around the center of the galaxy.  It's a very complicated process that involves a combination of observing individual stars, and making estimates of the mass of the galaxy inside the orbit of various parts of the galaxy.  Suffice to say, it's a bit imprecise, but it works well enough to give us a broad picture.

It turns out that we are roughly 30,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way, roughly two-thirds of the way to the loosely defined edge, in between two dense spiral arms and next to a faint "mini-arm".   We're in the disk of the Milky-way, not its halo.  Check out the link below for a picture.

In the summertime,  you can point towards the center of the Milky-way.   It's in the direction of the "spout" of the teapot shape of the constellation Sagittarius.  You can't see with your eyes the actual center of the Milky-Way, because a vast cloud of stars and gas is in the way.   That would be the "Sagittarius Arm" of the Milky-Way, which is a few thousand light years away and packed lots of stars, dust and gas.   If, however, you could see in infra-red, radio light, or X-rays (as some telescopes can) the center of our galaxy would be plain as day.

If, in the winter, you look towards the constellation Perseus, you are looking directly outward from the center of our galaxy.  What you see in our sky is the combination of the distant "Perseus Arm" of the Milky-Way, and a small, thin spur of stars that we're right at the edge of nestled between the Sagittarius and Perseus arms.

In the summer, if you look towards the bright star Vega, in the constellation Lyra, you'll be looking more or less in the direction that the solar system is moving through the galaxy.

Answer 3

we are in one of the arms near the outside of the galaxy.no where near the center however the programs i watch say that we are moving through the arm like every other solar system toward the center of our universe . there is no need to be alarmed because were so far from our black hole in the center that billions and billions of years will of passed before we even take notice of us geting close to it and so much could happen by then .we could collide with another galaxy and be flung out of our galaxy or destroyed .no one knows for sure but its to far away before we collide with anything so you wont be here when it happens

Answer 4

We are in one of the arms but we aren't near the outside.  If we were to collide with Andromeda then we probably wouldn't survive because we aren't near the outside.

Answer 5

We're in a grouping of stars called the Orion Arm.  We sit about 2/3 the way out to the edge from the center, or about 30,000 lightyears out.

Answer 6

its in the outter edge of one of the many arms in the spiral

Answer 7

Our solar system is in one of the spiral arms of our galaxy calle the Orion Arm. This is where most healthy young stars are, as opposed to the aging red giants nearer to the dense core of the Milky Way Galaxy. Nothing is particularly special about our position in space, besides the fact that it is an area of new star formation.

Answer 8

its in the spiral arms of the galaxy. we really can't tell where the center of the galaxy is because its to dusty to see clearly but there is evidence of a super massive black hole in the center of the milky way.

Answer 9

It is near the outer end of one of the spiral arms of the galaxy.