Video Transcript
The picture shows a top-down view
of the Milky Way. Which of the four points on the
diagram shows approximately where the solar system is?
Before we begin, we should remember
that the Milky Way is the name of the galaxy that our own solar system is part
of. It’s also important to note that
this diagram shows an imagined view of the Milky Way. Because we’re inside of the galaxy,
we’re never able to take a picture of it from the outside. Still though, our understanding of
science has allowed us to map out the galaxy and determine our position within
it.
We might recall that the Milky Way
is a spiral galaxy. In the picture, notice that we can
see several arms that spiral outwards from the center. We can also see that the central
region of the galaxy, or the galactic center, is much more bright and dense with
stars than the rest of the galaxy. The galactic center is tens of
thousands of light years away from the solar system. Thus, we know that the solar system
isn’t in the center of the Milky Way, so points B and C do not show where the solar
system is.
Now notice that the point labeled A
is way on the outside edge of the galaxy. We know that the solar system isn’t
in the very center, but it also isn’t on the very edge of the Milky Way. Point A then isn’t correct
either. The solar system is actually
located in one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way. The point labeled D is also on a
spiral arm. So this is our best answer. On the diagram, point D shows
approximately where the solar system is.
