A view from above of the entire Milky Way Galaxy, looking west.

A map of the spiral arms, looking south.

A map of the spiral arms, looking south.

Another view of the local neighborhood.

Hibiscus flower representing the Trifid Nebula.

Hibiscus flower representing the Eta Carinae Nebula.

Hibiscus flower representing the Lagoon Nebula.

Our Sun and most of the stars visible to the naked eye are very close in galactic terms. If our Sun is one dot on a leaf, most other familiar stars are on the same or nearby leaves. Sirius is 8 light year away - about 0.1", Vega is 27 l.y. (0.33"). In the direction opposite the Galactic Center the Pleiades star cluster is 440 l.y. (5.5"), Betelgeuse is 640 l.y. (8") and Rigel almost 800 l.y. (9").

Numbered disks are used to mark various features of the galaxy. Black disks identify the spiral arms and bar, and yellow/green disks identify specific features. The disks in this photo indicate the Orion arm (black 6) and the Orion Nebula (yellow 2). All visitors to the Galaxy Garden receive a booklet with a key to the disks. Verbiage is thus minimized in the garden, but easily available to those who wish it.

Bright emission nebula and star-forming regions are represented by hibiscus flowers. This is in the correct position to be the Lagoon nebula in the Sagittarius Arm.

The highlighted plants represent globular star clusters which are often elevated high above the disk of the galaxy.

A jet from the black hole at the galactic center is framed by globular clusters. M3 is in the foreground, and on the other side of the galactic center you can see two very close line-of-sight globulars NGC 6293 and NGC 6287, which are actually about 1000 light years apart. Also, just peeking up above the rim of the fountain is globular M9. And poking in on the right hand edge of frame is globular IC 1276. All of these clusters are aligned with the bar, as are a great many others, likely a more than statistically random number. Click here to check out the longitudes of many of the globular clusters that surround our galaxy. This is just the kind of thing that is difficult to visualize until you see it in 3-D!

The Far Side of the Galaxy.

A jet from the center of the galaxy indicates recent activity around the black hole at the Galaxy's very center.

Water in the pond flows towards the center, falling into the event horizon that circles the black hole, represented conventionally in the form of a gravity well.

A labeled diagram of the black hole.

The galaxy receives a visitor among the glittering stars.

Jon Lomberg at the black hole fountain located at the center of the Galaxy Garden. (Photograph by Daniel Deslauriers)