What is thought to be at the center of the Milky Way?
Milky Way of mass is best explained as a supermassive black hole (SMBH) with an estimated mass of 4.1–4.5 million times the mass of the Sun. The rate of accretion of the SMBH is consistent with an inactive galactic nucleus, being estimated at around y. Observations indicate that there are SMBH located near the center of most normal galaxies. The nature of the Milky Way's bar is actively debated, with estimates for its half-length and orientation spanning from and 10–50 degrees relative to the line of sight from Earth to the Galactic Center. Certain authors advocate that the Milky Way features two
Satellite galaxies of the Milky Way Clouds may be moving too fast to be orbiting the Milky Way. Of the galaxies confirmed to be in orbit, the largest is the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy, which has a diameter of or roughly a fifth that of the Milky Way. Satellite galaxies that orbit from of the edge of the disc of the Milky Way Galaxy to the edge of the dark matter halo of the Milky Way at from the center of the galaxy, are generally depleted in hydrogen gas compared to those that orbit more distantly. This is because of their interactions with the dense hot