Karlie Noon

Credit: Rhett Wyman, Sydney Morning Herald
Used by permission
Occupation: Astronomer
Research Areas: Galaxy Evolution, Indigenous Astronomy, Moon Haloes
Occupation: Astronomer
Research Areas: Galaxy Evolution, Indigenous Astronomy, Moon Haloes
Occupation: Astronomer, Cosmologist
Year born: 1889
Research Areas: Galaxies, extra-galactic astronomy, observational cosmology
The galaxy we live in is called the Milky Way. Because we live inside it, it hard to see the shape. From Earth, we see a faint, white band stretching across the night sky. The name comes from the Latin words meaning "milky path". Looking closely at this band, we see that it is made up of billions of stars. A lot of the light coming from those stars is blocked by gas and dust in the galaxy.