Njia Nyeupe

thumb|250px|Njia nyeupe jinsi inavyoonekana usiku (picha ilipigwa jangwani pasipo na machafuko wa nuru)
thumb|250px|Galaksi yetu jinsi inaaminiwa kuonekana vile kama tunaiangalia kutoka juu; picha ya galaksi ya mbali yenye mikono miwili ya parafujo
thumb|250px|Galaksi yetu inafanana na hii NGC 4565 tunayoona kutoka pembeni kabisa. Tunatambua vizuri jinsi gani mlia wa nyota zake unanenepa kidogo kwenye kitovu penye nyota nyingi.
**Njia Nyeupe** (pia "mkokoto wa kondoo za Sumaili" ; kwa Kiingereza *Milky Way*) ni 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.&nbsp;36–39.
* Cristina Chiappini, The Formation and Evolution of the Milky Way, American Scientist, November/December 2001, pp. 506-515

## Marejeo 
## 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
* 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
* 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

Jamii:Majarra