Our galaxy sticks out like a sore thumb! Why is that? Surprising data shows a strange history.

We often think of the vastness of our galaxy, as its diameter of approx 100,000 light-years but our galaxy is very thin that if you were travelling at the speed of light, you'd leave our galaxy in just 1,000 years.

How did our galaxy get so thin?

When we put it simply, galaxies are flat because of rotation, but it’s actually a lot more complicated than that. Just as everything else in our universe, the shape, and movement of these galaxies are affected by gravity and it’s this force that makes some galaxies appear so thin. It’s important to note that not all galaxies are flat. The most common type of galaxies to appear flat are spiral galaxies. Elliptical, lenticular, and irregular galaxies can have any number of different shapes.