How can we take pictures of the Milky Way Galaxy if we are inside of it?

We cannot take any external photos of the Milky Way Galaxy because we are well inside it. In order to actually take a photo of the entire Milky Way Galaxy, we’d have to be about 45,000–50,000 light years away from it. Considering that our most distant probe, Voyager I, is only now about one light day from the Sun, we’re not quite at the technological level that would enable us to photograph the Milky Way from the “outside.”

What we refer to as the “Milky Way” is actually the band of stars along the main part of the galaxy’s disc.

However, we do have a fair idea about our galaxy’s appearance because we can observe other galaxies that are quite similar. Perhaps the best example of a “look-alike” Milky Way is the galaxy NGC 6744, in the constellation Pavo:

NGC 6744 is an intermediate barred spiral, the structure of which is remarkably similar to that of our home galaxy. While we can’t see the Milky Way externally, we can easily see one of its twins.

Originally published at https://wanderingastronomer.com on August 2, 2026.