What is the structure of the Milky Way?

Mapping the 3D-structure of the Milky Way is difficult as we cannot see it from the outside. Still, over the past decades, astronomers have revealed the main components of the Milky Way. There are the stellar disc, majestic spiral arms and a central bulge. Then there is an extended halo with globular clusters and the remains of dwarf satellite galaxies. The halo’s gravitational effect on the motions of stars indicates that it must also contain huge amounts of dark matter, estimated to be at least 10 times the mass of the stars in the Milky Way. In the galactic halo astronomers have discovered the remnants of disrupted dwarf galaxies. Their material is added to the pool of matter in the Milky Way. In fact, without a dark matter halo, thin galactic discs would not be stable. The central bulge also harbours a supermassive black hole at its core.