Milky Way Galaxy

The Milky Way Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy that is part of a group of approximately 30 dwarf galaxies. The Milky Way Galaxy, as viewed from Earth, which is situated on a spur off one of the spiral arms of the galaxy, appears as a hazy band of white light in the night sky arching across the entire celestial sphere. The Milky Way looks brightest in the direction of the constellation of Sagittarius, toward the galactic center. Relative to the celestial equator, it passes as far north as the constellation of Cassiopeia and as far south as the constellation of Crux, indicating the high inclination of Earth's equatorial plane and the plane of the ecliptic relative to the galactic plane.

In the continuity of Star Trek, the Milky Way is enveloped by an intense field of energy, which has come to be known as the Great Barrier. Penetrating the barrier is nearly impossible and though people have tried to send probes inside of it to analyze the barrier - none have ever returned. A Vulcan radical named Sybok believed that the mythological "Eden" known as Sha Ka Ree existed beyond the clouds of the Great Barrier. In the year 2287, Sybok kidnapped the crew of the USS Enterprise-A and forced them to pilot the ship through the Great Barrier in the hopes of finding Sha Ka Ree. Finding Sha Ka Ree turned out to be a fruitless endeavor, but they did succeed in penetrating the barrior.

Points of Interest

 * Great Barrier
 * Sol system
 * Mercury
 * Venus
 * Earth
 * Mars
 * Jupiter
 * Saturn
 * Neptune
 * Uranus
 * Pluto

Notes & Trivia

 * Only people from the planet Earth refer to their home galaxy as the Milky Way.