its a spiral galaxy and the earth is so far the only planet in the milky way where we know we can live
The word galaxy is a noun used to describe a cluster of billions of stars. One way to use the word in a sentence would be to say, "The Milky Way is the galaxy of stars that we live in."
That would be the Milky Way Galaxy.
A spiral galaxy
I believe that would be M31.
We are in the Milky Way galaxy.
The diameter of the Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 light-years. If the Sun and Earth were at the edge of the disk, we would still be within the galaxy's boundaries, so the diameter would remain around 100,000 light-years.
In Kannada, we would say:Haalina Marghada Taaragana
The Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy is currently considered to be the closest galaxy to the Milky Way. It is 25,000 light years from our solar system and 42,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way. Its status as a galaxy is still disputed in some scientific circles. If the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy loses its galaxy status, then the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy would reacquire the title as the Milky Way's closest neighbor. It is it is roughly 50,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way.
No scale was specified. However, if the Earth was one inch, the Andromeda Galaxy would be 29,300,000,000 miles away.
I believe that would be M31.
Our spiral galaxy of The Milky Way Galaxy is approximately 80,000 to 120,000 light-years across, and less than 7,000 light-years thick.
It's doubtful if a civilization could still exist within an elliptical galaxy due to the age of the stars. If they could, then the sky would have a slight red tinge, nothing like the Milky Way.