The universe comprises all of existence: all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from subatomic particles to entire galactic filaments. Since the early 20th century, the field of
The Hubble Ultra-Deep Field image shows some of the most remote galaxies visible to present technology (diagonal is ~1/10 apparent Moon diameter)
In this schematic diagram, time passes from left to right, with the universe represented by a disk-shaped "slice" at any given time. Time and size are not to scale. To make the early stages visible, the time to the afterglow stage (really the first 0.003%) is stretched and the subsequent expansion (really by 1,100 times to the present) is largely suppressed.
The three possible options for the shape of the universe
The formation of clusters and large-scale filaments in the cold dark matter model with dark energy. The frames show the evolution of structures in a 43 million parsecs (or 140 million light-years) box from redshift of 30 to the present epoch (upper left z=30 to lower right z=0).
The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy, or simply the Galaxy, is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the nig
Universe
…led to a heliocentric model. Further observational improvements led to the realization that the Sun is one of a few hundred billion stars in the Milky Way, which is one of a few hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe. At the largest scale, galaxies are distributed uniformly and the same in…
The Galactic Center as seen from Earth's night sky (featuring the telescope's laser guide star).
The Milky Way as seen from a dark site with little light pollution
Photograph of the "Great Andromeda Nebula" from 1899, later identified as the Andromeda Galaxy
A diagram of the Sun's location in the Milky Way; the angles represent longitudes in the galactic coordinate system