I was checking out a Word site the other day, looking at the "
Words of the Week" when galaxy came up. The was a rather off target description in there.
Look at this.
Word of the Week--"galaxy"
Definition--a large-scale aggregate of stars, gas, and dust, ranging in diameter from 1,500 to 300,000 light years.
Discussion--the sun is the center of our galaxy, which is dubbed the Milky Way for its milky appearance (not its resemblance to a candy bar). Although our galaxy is vast, the Milky Way is just one of a galaxy of galaxies in the universe. As with the sun and the moon though, we did not always recognize this, and thus the terms have become both specific and general. Sun can refer both to our sun or other suns in our own or other galaxies. Likewise, the only name we have our moon is the moon, but we know many other planets also have moons.
Etymology--Galaxy is derived from the Latin and Greek terms for milk--galaxius, and was first used around 1380.
Someone didn't do their homework very well.
