Today we’re talking about our galactic neighborhood: The Milky Way. It’s a disk galaxy, a collection of dust, gas, and hundreds of billions of stars, with the Sun located about halfway out from the center. The disk has grand spiral patterns in it, formed by the traffic jams of stars and nebulae, where stars are born. The central region is shaped like a bar, and is mostly old, red stars. There’s also a halo surrounding us of old stars.

Crash Course Astronomy Poster: store.dftba.com/products/crashcourse-astronomy-poster

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Table of Contents
Milky Way Is A Disc 2:54
Grand Spiral Patterns 4:21
The Central Region Is Bar Shaped 7:48
Outer Halo Of Old Stars 9:09

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PHOTOS/VIDEOS
Milky Way, Artist’s Drawing www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/multimedia/20080603a.html [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech]
Joshua Tree deepskycolors.com/astro/2013/04/2013-04_JoshuaTree_MW.jpg [credit: Rogelio Bernal Andreo]
Milky Way Center Region Mosaic sguisard.astrosurf.com/Pagim/GC.html [credit: ESO]
New Hubble image of star cluster Messier 15 www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1321a/ [credit: NASA, ESA]
Artist’s impression of the Milky Way www.spacetelescope.org/videos/hubblecast70b/ [credit: ESA/Hubble and M. Kornmesser]
M83 (Hubble Only and Hubble-Subaru-ESO Composite) www.robgendlerastropics.com/M83-New-HST.html [credit: Robert Gendler, 8.2 Meter Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), European Southern Observatories, Hubble Legacy Archive]
Hubble's Largest Galaxy Portrait Offers a New High-Definition View hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2006/10/image/a/ [credit: NASA, ESA, K. Kuntz (JHU), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Lab), J. Mould (NOAO), Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana), and STScI]
NGC 3344 skycenter.arizona.edu/gallery/Galaxies/NGC3344 [credit: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona]
Annotated Milky Way www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/wise/20150603/spitzer20150603.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech]
Black hole with corona, X-ray source (artist's concept) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole#/media/File:Black_Holes_-_Monsters_in_Space.jpg [credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech]
A Galaxy and its Halo www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2008/06/A_galaxy_and_its_halo [credit: ESA (image by C. Carreau)]
How to Become a Star www.eso.org/public/images/eso0102a/ [credit: ESO]

1. Introduction to Astronomy
2. Naked Eye Observations
3. Cycles in the Sky
4. Moon Phases
5. Eclipses
6. Telescopes
7. The Gravity of the Situation
8. Tides
9. Introduction to the Solar System
10. The Sun
11. The Earth
12. The Moon
13. Mercury
14. Venus
15. Mars
16. Jupiter
17. Jupiter's Moons
18. Saturn
19. Uranus & Neptune
20. Asteroids
21. Comets
22. The Oort Cloud
23. Meteors
24. Light
25. Distances
26. Stars
27. Exoplanets
28. Brown Dwarfs
29. Low Mass Stars
30. White Dwarfs & Planetary Nebulae
31. High Mass Stars
32. Neutron Stars
33. Black Holes
34. Binary and Multiple Stars
35. Star Clusters
36. Nebulae
37. The Milky Way
38. Galaxies, part 1
39. Galaxies, part 2
40. Gamma-Ray Bursts
41. Dark Matter
42. The Big Bang, Cosmology part 1
43. Dark Energy, Cosmology part 2
44. A Brief History of the Universe
45. Deep Time
46. Everything, The Universe...And Life
47. Explore The Solar System:

In this Crash Course series, marvel at the wonders of astronomy with your host for this intergalactic adventure, the Bad Astronomer himself -- Phil Plait. In just 40 short lessons, you will learn the basics of the oldest science known to humanity.

Be sure to check out links to relevant Photos in the description for each video.