Orion Arm - wikipedia Orion Arm For the stars which form the arm of the Orion asterism, see Orion ( constellation ). For the online project, see Orion 's Arm. Observed structure of the Milky Way 's spiral arms The Orion Arm is a minor spiral arm of the Milky Way some 3,500 light - years ( 1,100 parsecs ) across and approximately 10,000 light - years ( 3,100 parsecs ) in length. The Solar System, including the Earth, lies within the Orion Arm. It is also referred to by its full name, the Orion -- Cygnus Arm, as well as Local Arm, Orion Bridge, and formerly, the Local Spur and Orion Spur. The Orion Arm is named for the Orion constellation, which is one of the most prominent constellations of Northern Hemisphere winter ( Southern Hemisphere summer ). Some of the brightest stars and most famous celestial objects of this constellation ( Betelgeuse, Rigel, the stars of Orion 's Belt, the Orion Nebula ) are located within the Orion Arm, as shown on the interactive map below. The Orion Arm is located between the Carina -- Sagittarius Arm ( toward the Galactic Center ) and the Perseus Arm ( toward the outside Universe ), the latter one of the two major arms of the Milky Way. Long thought to be a minor structure, a `` spur '' between the two longer adjacent arms Perseus and Carina - Sagittarius, evidence was presented in mid 2013 that it might be a branch of the Perseus Arm, or possibly an independent arm segment itself. Within the Orion Arm, the Solar System, including Earth, is located close to the inner rim in the Local Bubble, about halfway along the Orion Arm 's length, approximately 8,000 parsecs ( 26,000 light - years ) from the Galactic Center. Contents 1 Messier objects 2 Interactive maps 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Messier objects The shape of the Orion Spur The Orion Arm contains a number of Messier objects : The Butterfly Cluster ( M6 ) The Ptolemy Cluster ( M7 ) Open Cluster M23 Open Cluster M25 The Dumbbell Nebula ( M27 ) Open Cluster M29 Open Cluster M34 Open Cluster M35 Open Cluster M39 Winnecke 4 ( M40 ) Open Cluster M41 The Orion Nebula ( M42 ) The De Mairan 's Nebula The Beehive Cluster ( M44 ) The Pleiades ( M45 ) Open Cluster M46 Open Cluster M47 Open Cluster M48 Open Cluster M50 The Ring Nebula ( M57 ) Open Cluster M67 M73 The Little Dumbbell Nebula ( M76 ) Diffuse Nebula M78 Open Cluster M93 The Owl Nebula ( M97 ) Interactive maps Orion and neighboring arms ( clickable map ) The nearest nebulae and star clusters ( clickable map ) See also Gould Belt Local Bubble Loop I Bubble List of Messier objects List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs References Jump up ^ See the `` Spiral Arms '' part of this NASA animation for details Jump up ^ Harold Spencer Jones, T.H. Huxley, Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Royal Institution of Great Britain, v. 38 -- 39 Jump up ^ Earth 's Milky Way Neighborhood Gets More Respect, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Dave Finley, 3 June 2013 Jump up ^ Vázquez, Ruben A. ; May, Jorge ; Carraro, Giovanni ; Bronfman, Leonardo ; Moitinho, André ; Baume, Gustavo ( January 2008 ). `` Spiral Structure in the Outer Galactic Disk. I. The Third Galactic Quadrant ''. The Astrophysical Journal. 672 ( 2 ) : 930 -- 939. Bibcode : 2008ApJ... 672... 930V. arXiv : 0709.3973. doi : 10.1086 / 524003. External links Messier Objects in the Milky Way ( SEDS ) A 3D map of the Milky Way Galaxy Earth 's location in the Universe Included Earth → Solar System → Local Interstellar Cloud → Local Bubble → Gould Belt → Orion Arm → Milky Way → Milky Way subgroup → Local Group → Virgo Supercluster → Laniakea Supercluster → Pisces -- Cetus Supercluster Complex → Observable universe → Universe Each arrow ( → ) may be read as `` within '' or `` part of ''. Related Cosmic View ( 1957 essay ) To the Moon and Beyond ( 1964 film ) Cosmic Zoom ( 1968 film ) Powers of Ten ( 1968 and 1977 films ) Cosmic Voyage ( 1996 documentary ) Cosmic Eye ( 2012 ) Astronomy portal - Cosmology portal The Milky Way Location Milky Way → Milky Way subgroup → Local Group → Virgo Supercluster → Laniakea Supercluster → Pisces -- Cetus Supercluster Complex → Observable universe → Universe Each arrow ( → ) may be read as `` within '' or `` part of ''. Galactic core Center of the Milky Way Sagittarius A Sagittarius A * Supermassive black hole Spiral arms Carina -- Sagittarius Norma -- Cygnus Orion -- Cygnus Perseus Scutum -- Centaurus Satellite galaxies Magellanic Clouds Large Magellanic Cloud Small Magellanic Cloud Magellanic Stream Magellanic Bridge Sagittarius Spheroidal Sagittarius Stream Boötes II Coma Berenices Messier 54 Palomar 12 Segue 1 Segue 2 Terzan 7 Dwarfs Boötes I Boötes III Canes Venatici I Canes Venatici II Canis Major Carina Crater 2 Draco Fornax Hercules Leo I Leo II Leo IV Leo V Leo T Phoenix Pisces I Pisces II Sculptor Sextans Triangulum II Ursa Major I Ursa Major II Ursa Minor Virgo I Other Monoceros Ring Virgo Stream Koposov I Koposov II Segue 3 Willman 1 Related Andromeda -- Milky Way collision Astronomy portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orion_Arm&oldid=802506510 '' Categories : Orion -- Cygnus Arm Milky Way Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Avañe'ẽ Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español فارسی Français Gaelg 한국어 हिन्दी Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית ქართული Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk پنجابی Polski Português Română Simple English Slovenčina Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 26 September 2017, at 16 : 02. 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Question: what arm of the galaxy are we in
Answer: Orion Arm