A closer look
What you can do with Milky Way Explorer
Milky Way Explorer turns our galaxy into something you can fly around and explore — its structure, its landmarks, and our own place within it.
The whole galaxy, layer by layer
Fly around the Milky Way's structure and switch its components on and off — from the grand spiral arms down to individual objects.
- Spiral arms, central bulge and halo
- Thousands of stars, nebulae and star clusters
- Satellite galaxies and constellation lines
- Toggle any layer on or off
Find our place, and click for the facts
Jump to the Solar System's spot in a spiral arm, then click any object to pull up its details.
- Fly straight to the Sun's position in the galaxy
- Click any star, nebula or cluster for facts
- Searchable object library
- Smooth orbit from top-down to edge-on
Test your astronomy
Built-in quizzes turn the tour into active recall — locate the object, name the structure, place our Solar System.
- Several astronomy quiz modes
- Locate-the-object challenges
- Instant feedback
- Replayable for practice
