The Milky Way: our galactic home
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy. The Sun lies away from the center, in the region called the Orion Spur, and travels around the galactic center with the Solar System.
Artists combine measurements to show the galaxy from outside. Such illustrations are scientific models rather than spacecraft selfies. Our map of eight planets and a map of the galaxy require very different scales.
Wonder about this
Is an outside-view drawing of the Milky Way a spacecraft photograph?
A science clue
No. It is a reconstruction based on observations from our place inside the galaxy.