The spiral arms of our galaxy, as the piece models them.
- Norma ArmThe Norma Arm is the innermost of the Milky Way’s main spiral arms, a band of gas and young stars curling out from the end of the central bar.
- Scutum–Centaurus ArmThe Scutum–Centaurus Arm is one of the Milky Way’s two major spiral arms, a dense band of old and young stars springing from the far end of the bar.
- Sagittarius–Carina ArmThe Sagittarius–Carina Arm is the spiral arm just inside the Sun’s orbit, the nearest arm towards the Galactic Centre and home to some of the sky’s richest nebulae.
- Local (Orion) SpurThe Local (Orion) Spur is the short spiral feature the Sun lives in, a band of stars and gas lying between the Sagittarius–Carina and Perseus arms.
- Perseus ArmThe Perseus Arm is the major spiral arm just outside the Sun’s orbit, one of the Milky Way’s two great stellar arms, running through Perseus and Cassiopeia.
- Outer ArmThe Outer Arm is the most distant of the Milky Way’s spiral arms from the centre, a thin, sparse sweep of gas and young stars near the edge of the disc.