Q1. Why can't we see the Milky Way Galaxy? But we can see other galaxies with the use of telescopes.

The Milky Way

If luck and the weather permit, when the night sky is unpolluted and clear, you can actually see a part of the Milky Way even on your own backyard! Here on Earth, we can see our galaxy as a large band of stars spilled across the dark sky. Unfortunately, we cannot see much of the Milky Way and its spiral structure because the Solar System, where our planet lies, is located near at the edge of the disk and we have no means to take pictures of the top or the bottom of the galaxy. We also cannot see much of the composition on the other side of the galaxy because the neighbouring dusts and bright stars hinder our view.

On the other hand, we can view other galaxies and their structures using very powerful telescopes because they are located outside and separated from our galaxy and our Solar System, thus Earth, is located on one of the spirals at the outskirt of the Milky Way, where there are relatively fewer bright stars than inside the center of the galaxy which can obstruct our view of what lies beyond our galaxy. Think of it like this: our solar system, along with other star systems, is riding in a “bus” (the Milky Way). Inside the “bus” our solar system is seated on the far end, next to a window. The location is a perfect place to observe other buses (other galaxies) on the road and other seated passengers (star systems) from both ends of the bus, but is not a good place to see the bus driver at the opposite end of the bus.
Here in the country, the best place to observe the band of our galaxy is in the provinces where there is minimal pollution.

Keep the questions coming. Clear skies to everyone!

Prepared by: Kristine Jane Atienza