How do we know that the Milky Way Galaxy is a Spiral Galaxy?

Question

Since no one has been outside of our galaxy to take a picture of it, how do we know that our galaxy is a Spiral Galaxy? I mean we've been told it is but is there a scientific explanation for it being a spiral galaxy (I know there is an explanation and I've been having a hard time finding it - so what is it?)

Answer 1

Through very tedious measurements of the distances of many objects in the sky and making a map from the results. Also, since we can view other galaxies from outside, we can get an idea from them what our galaxy might look like from outside and what they might look like from inside.

Answer 2

1. Captain Kirk told us so.
2. There's a mirror at the edge of the universe that shows us our galaxy when we look at it.
3. The Robinson family came back on the Jupiter 2 spaceship and told us so.
4. NASA astronauts in space used special rays to detect the shape of the galaxy.
5. Aliens from the Andromeda galaxy sent us a message telling us what our galaxy looked like.

Okay, all those answers I gave are lies. Seriously, though, campbelp2002 gave the right answer.

Answer 3

Because our galaxy contains a compact object of a very large mass, suspected as a supermassive blackhole in its galactic center and its gravitationjal affect causes our galaxy to be spiral in shape.

Answer 4

the reason is that while the planets cirlcling around the sun, they leave small particles behind. when satellites sent into space, they only see the particles the planets leave behind. that's whyour galaxy is called the spiral galaxy.

Answer 5

Satelite imaging.

Answer 6

fish-eye view of the universe seen through a satelite.