Our Galaxy
In our Galaxy alone there are more stars and planets than all the people that have ever lived on earth. Approximately 8.8 billion of those planets are suitable for life.
Appearance Age
The Milky Way is called "The Milky Way" because it appears to be milk in a spiral shaped form. 13.2 billion years old
Appearance from Earth Now In 2 billion years In 3.75 billion years
If you look outside at the sky today you will most likely see nothing but blackness, the stars, and the moon. This is because all of the light on Earth is taking over and preventing you from seeing our galaxy (light pollution). If you were to go outside during a black out then you would most likely see the image on the left. In about 2 billion years from now if you went outside you would see the picture in the middle and you would see the image on the right if you were to go outside 1.75 billion years later. The reason behind this is the fact that another galaxy called Andromeda is going to collide with our Milky Way galaxy and they will eventually be conjoined into one big super galaxy.