Perseus Spiral Arm

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Observed structure of the Milky Way's spiral arms
Observed structure of the Milky Way's spiral arms

The Perseus Spiral Arm is a major spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy with four major arms and and least two minor arms or spurs. The Perseus Spiral Arm, with a radius of approximately 10,700 parsecs, is located between the Cygnus Arm and the Sagittarius Arm. It is named after its proximity to the constellation Perseus.

There is speculation that the minor Orion Arm, which includes the solar system and Earth, is a branch of the Perseus Arm, but this is unconfirmed.

The Perseus Spiral arm contains a number of Messier objects:

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The Milky Way
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Galactic Core: Center of the Milky Way
Spiral Arms: Carina ArmCrux ArmCygnus ArmNorma ArmOrion ArmPerseus ArmSagittarius ArmScutum Arm
Location: UniverseVirgo SuperclusterLocal Group
Satellite galaxies: Boötes DwarfCanes Venatici DwarfCanis Major Dwarf GalaxyCarina DwarfDraco DwarfFornax DwarfLarge Magellanic CloudLeo ILeo IISag DEGSculptor Dwarf GalaxySextans DwarfSmall Magellanic CloudUrsa Major DwarfUrsa Minor DwarfVirgo Stellar Stream