Features

How immense is the universe?

Unfettered by tales of science fiction, the cosmos is almost incomprehensibly large.

Our solar system: Realms of fire and ice

We start your tour of the cosmos with gas and ice giants, a lot of rocks, and the only known abode for life.

The Milky Way: Earth’s home galaxy

Giant clouds of gas and dust sprinkled with splashy star clusters adorn the Milky Way’s spiral arms, while the galaxy’s vast halo teems with darker matter.

The Local Group: Our galactic neighborhood

The Milky Way’s family of galaxies is locked in a multi-billion-year battle for gravitational supremacy.

The Virgo Supercluster: Our 100,000 closest galaxies

Small groups combine with larger clusters to form a vast network of interconnected galaxies that spans 110 million light-years.

Limits of the cosmos: The far reaches of space

Everything astronomers have learned points to a universe populated by superclusters of galaxies, incredibly long filaments, and colossal voids.

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