A bright band of stars, gas, and dust runs through the center of the galaxy (forming a bar), with arms emerging from the ends. There are at least four main arms in the Milky Way: Sagittarius, Carboniferous, Perseus, Cross, and several smaller ones: Orion (where the Solar System is located), the Near Three-Kiloparsec Arm, and the Far Three-Kiloparsec Arm.
