There are two questions that have haunted wannabe astronomers for decades : “ Why is our galaxy send for the Milky style ? ” and “ Does it have anything to do with the pleasant-tasting confect bar ? ”

Long ago , the Romans name the galaxy“via lactea,”which translate to “ road of milk . ” The Romans name itvia lacteaprecisely because it appear like a milky patch of sky above the Earth at nighttime .

But , the Romans were n’t the first to name the galax . The Romans got the name from the Greeks , who called itgalaxias kyklos , which translate into “ whitish forget me drug . ”

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accord to the Greek myth , Zeus brought his son Heracles home for Hera to breastfeed while she was sleeping . Hera did not like Alcides , in the main because the youngster was half - deathly and was the result of one of Zeus ’ personal business . When Hera awoke , she cursorily push Heracles aside , which get a few drops of Milk River to spill into the night sky .

Scientifically , the bright darn of light is the result of looking at a hard band of billions of different mavin in our galaxy . When we count up at the nighttime sky , we are consider the Galax urceolata on its side . This view create the glowing bow of light that we know as the Milky Way galaxy .

Other cultures have different name for the Milky Way . In Germany , the Galax urceolata is call “ Milchstrasse ” and Norwegians call the galaxy “ Melkeveien . ”

Frank Marsinvented the Milky Way candy barafter three years of research in 1923 . It was the first filled confect bar . The savour of the filling was cheer by the deep brown - malt liquor milk shake that was popular at the meter . When Frank Mars named the confect legal profession , he named it the Milky Way because of its milkshake - comparable filling .