Taunya Jones, age 13, of Oak Hill, W. Va., for her question:

HOW MANY STARS ARE IN THE MILKY WAY:

That band of hazy light that looks a little like a splash of milk in the night sky is actually a galaxy a system of stars that moves through the universe together. Our sun is one of the stars in the Milky Way.

It is estimated there are more than 100 billion stars in the Milky Way. How do you like that for a big number?

It appears to astronomers that from the outside the Milky Way is in the form of a giant pinwheel with five arms. The pinwheel is constantly spinning around in space.

Scientists believe that the Milky Way is more than 100,000 light years wide.