Where does the name of our galaxy, the Milky Way, come from? Why?

Question

Who came up with it? Does it have any other names? Why choose that name for it?

Answer 1

The Greeks came up with the name which in English is "Milky Way", but every culture had a name for it -- it's pretty conspicuous, after all.

The Greek story is kind of goofy, but this is it: the goddesses Athena and Hera (goddesses of wisdom and married life, respectively) were out for a walk and came across what seemed to be an abandoned infant. (Actually, it was the just-born Herakles [Hercules in Latin], whose mother Hera hated. Athena had planted the child there. Now go on with the story:)

"Oh, the poor thing!" said Athena. "Come, Hera, give it your breast!" For Hera, being the Great Mother, was constantly in milk even though she herself was seldom pregnant. Anyway, she did so, and Herakles sucked her nipple so powerfully that she yelped with pain and pulled him away. When she did so a spurt of her milk flew into the sky and that's what caused the Milky Way.

Well, I told you it was a goofy story, didn't I? BTW a mouthful of the goddess' milk was enough to make Herakles immortal, so Hera never did manage to off the poor guy, though she made his life miserable.

Answer 2

The term "milky" originates from the hazy band of white light appearing across the celestial sphere visible from Earth, which is comprised of stars and other material lying within the galactic plane. The galaxy appears brightest in the direction of Sagittarius, towards the galactic center. Relative to the celestial equator, the Milky Way passes as far north as the constellation of Cassiopeia and as far south as the constellation of Crux, indicating the high inclination of Earth's equatorial plane and the plane of the ecliptic relative to the galactic plane.The fact that the Milky Way divides the night sky into two roughly equal hemispheres indicates that the solar system lies close to the galactic plane.

Answer 3

The Milky Way (a translation of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn derived from the Greek Γαλαξίας (Galaxias), sometimes referred to simply as "the Galaxy") The term "milky" originates from the hazy band of white light appearing across the celestial sphere visible from Earth, which is comprised of stars and other material lying within the galactic plane. The galaxy appears brightest in the direction of Sagittarius, towards the galactic center

Answer 4

The ancient Greek astronomers thought that the Milky Way looked like a river of milk running through the sky, and that's where both "Milky Way" and "Galaxy" come from. Galaxy comes from the Greek word for milk.

Answer 5

when you look at a clear night sky, the thick disk of the milky way appears as a milky glow - that is the band in the sky where there are so many stars that it creats this faint background. you have to be away from all city lights to see it

Answer 6

The term "milky" originates from the hazy band of white light appearing across the celestial sphere visible from Earth

Answer 7

If you look up in the sky on a clear night in a dark place (not in the city where there are tons of lights) you will see a white band of stars going across the sky. It looks like milk spilled across the sky, and that's our galaxy and the origin of it's name.

Answer 8

It's the Milky Way because ' it came from over there '.

Answer 9

Galaxy (galaxies)
Milky Way (Akash ganga)

Answer 10

that wicked good candy bar