Structure of the Milky Way - In this diagram, the Orion Arm is labelled "Local Spur". The position of the Solar System is indicated by the yellow dot.
The Orion Arm is a minor spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. The Solar System and Earth are within the Orion Arm. It is also referred to as the Local Arm, the Local Spur or the Orion Spur.
The Orion Arm is named for its proximity to the stars in the Orion constellation. It is located between the Sagittarius Arm and the Perseus Arm, two of the four major arms of the Milky Way. Within the Orion Arm, the solar system and Earth are located close to the inner rim in the Local Bubble, approximately 8000 parsecs (26,000 light-years) from the galactic center.
The Orion arm contains a number of Messier objects:
Clickable maps
Orion and neighboring arms (clickable map)
The nearest nebulae and star clusters (clickable map)
See also
External links
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Earth's location in space |
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