Njia Nyeupe

Njia Nyeupe (kwa Kiingereza Milky Way), pia majarra au "mkokoto wa kondoo za Sumaili"  ni jina la mlia mpana wa nyota nyingi unaoonekana angani wakati wa usiku kama wingu jeupe linalong`aa.

Hali halisi hii ni jinsi tunavyoona galaksi yetu ambamo mfumo wa Jua letu pamoja na Dunia ni sehemu zake.

Umbo na umbali
Galaksi yetu imekadiriwa kuwa na nyota zaidi ya bilioni 100 hadi bilioni 400. Inafanana na kisahani chenye umbo la parafujo. Kipenyo cha kisahani hicho ni miakanuru 100,000 ikiwa na unene wa miakanuru 3,000. 

Galaksi iliyo karibu zaidi angani inaitwa Andromeda ikiwa na umbali wa miakanuru milioni 2.5.

Isipokuwa sayari za Jua letu na galaksi ya Andromeda (inayoonekana kama nyota moja), nyota zote ni kama Jua letu yaani tufe kubwa sana la gesi joto.

Kuonekana kwa Njia Nyeupe kutoka duniani 
Nyota karibu zote tunazoziona kwa macho yetu ni sehemu za Njia Nyeupe. Kutegemeana na kiwango cha giza tunaweza kuona kati ya nyota 3,000 hadi 6,000 bila msaada wa darubini. 

Si rahisi kuona nyota nyingi tukiwa mjini kwa sababu mwanga wa taa za mjini unaakisiwa katika angahewa na kuzuia kuona mianga hafifu nje ya angahewa.

Idadi kubwa zaidi ya nyota za Njia Nyeupe hatuwezi kuona wala kubainisha, kwa hiyo zinatokea machoni kama ukungu mweupe tu.

Uwezo wetu wa kuona nyota nyingi zaidi umepunguzwa na kuwepo kwa mavumbi ya kinyota kati ya mahali petu na kitovu cha galaksi.

Muundo 
Galaksi yetu ina umbo la parafujo (spirali) ya kisahani. Mahali petu pamoja na Jua pako kando kiasi ndani ya uwiano wa kisahani hiki. Tuko takriban 2/3 ya umbali wa kipenyo kutoka kitovu cha kisahani.

Ikitazamwa kutoka juu galaksi yetu ina umbo la parafujo yenye mikono mbalimbali. Picha hii tumeipata kutokana na kuangalia galaksi za mbali angani zinazoonekana kutoka juu ilhali parafujo inaonekana.

Soma pia 
 Thorsten Dambeck in Sky and Telescope, "Gaia's Mission to the Milky Way", Machi 2008, p. 36–39.
 Cristina Chiappini, The Formation and Evolution of the Milky Way, American Scientist, November/December 2001, pp. 506-515

Viungo vya nje 

 The Milky Way Galaxy from An Atlas of the Universe
 Basic Milky Way plan map, including spiral arms and the Orion spur
 A 3D map of the Milky Way Galaxy
 Chromoscope Tools to Explore the known Milky Way
 Milky Way – IRAS (infrared) survey wikisky.org
 Milky Way – H-Alpha survey wikisky.org
 Interactive full screen Silverlight map of the Milky Way
 Running Rings Around the Galaxy  Spitzer Space Telescope News
 The Milky Way Galaxy, SEDS Messier pages
 MultiWavelength Milky Way , NASA site with images and VRML models
 Milky Way Explorer, detailed images in infrared with radio, microwave and hydrogen-alpha as well
 The Milky Way at the Astro-Photography Site Of Mister T. Yoshida.
 Widefield Image of the Summer Milky Way
 Proposed Ring around the Milky Way
 Milky Way spiral gets an extra arm, New Scientist.com
 Possible New Milky Way Spiral Arm, Sky and Telescope.com
 The Milky Way spiral arms and a possible climate connection
 Galactic center mosaic via sun-orbiting Spitzer infrared telescope 
 Milky Way Plan Views, The University of Calgary Radio Astronomy Laboratory
 Our Growing, Breathing Galaxy, Scientific American Magazine (Januari 2004 Issue)
 Deriving The Shape Of The Galactic Stellar Disc , SkyNightly (17 Machi 2006)
 Digital Sky LLC , Digital Sky's Milky Way Panorama and other images
 A new view of the Milky Way galaxy  obtained by the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) on NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer satellite (COBE).
 Image of Milky Way galaxy arms, Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
 The 1920 Shapley – Curtis Debate on the size of the Milky Way
 Milky Way Voyage – India's First & Largest Star Party 
 Astronomy Picture of the Day:
 Composite image of the Milky Way
 Milky Way image with highlights
 Milky Way Illustrated
 Barred Spiral Milky Way (Illustrated)
 Radioactive Clouds in the Milky Way
 Milky Way Molecule Map
 The Milky Way's Gamma-Ray Halo
 Moving Milkyway seen from Teneriffe without any lightpollution
 Multi-Gigapixel Infrared Milky Way A zoomable, annotated version of the Spitzer Space Telescope GLIMPSE survey.
 Animated tour of the Milky Way , University of Glamorgan

Marejeo 

Galaksi