Very good question.
It's a little bit like sitting in one fixed spot on the ground (unable to move), and looking around to see what the city looks like from the air.
Since we are "trapped" (by sheer distances) in one tiny corner within the Milky Way Galaxy, we must infer its form by looking at the various star clusters within. Worse yet, clouds of dust and gas interfere with visible light, so we use radio telescopes to see through those clouds.
Also, we can look up at other galaxies and presume that ours is going to look something like the others.
It was once believed that the Milky Way was a perfect spiral galaxy (like the Whirlpool Galaxy), but careful measurements have determined that the Milky Way is actually a Barred Spiral.
This means that although the outer "arms" of the galaxy are graceful arcs, the central bulge of the galaxy is bar shaped - like a lazy S shape with a very fat middle.
There are a couple of nice example pictures on this website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barred_spiral_galaxy
I suggest you take a look for yourself. It's best seen without any ground light. Basically it looks like translucent milk or a thin, difficult-to-see white haze, almost like a thin layer of Elmer's glue when it dries that's splashed across the sky in a winding trail-like form.
A galaxy consists of billions of stars. There are sometimes planets like our galaxy or none at all. There is also asteroids and meteroids. Unlike our galaxy some galaxies dont have a sun to warm them for there is no need. The milky way galaxy looks like some one spilled milk in space and is spiral, hence the name MILKY way.
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy, possibly type SBbc. The central bar is fairly small but distinct. See the link below to get an idea of what our galaxy would look like from the outside, as viewed from directly above the galactic plane (and our sun's location is shown as well). This illustration is based on the most recent stellar surveys:
At night.
There really isn't any time of year when some part of the Milky Way is not visible. However, you need a reasonably dark sky to see the "milky way". (You don't need superb conditions, just better than you'll ever get in a large city).
If you mean specific stars in the Milky Way, then literally anytime it's not so overcast that you can't see the sky at all.
Yes because its a constellation. you can only see it at night because of the stars.
Yes, at night, the other parts of the Milky Way are visible in the night sky.
We have never detected any "dark matter", and our theories don't provide any information about what it might look like. "Dark matter" is currently just an idea under discussion.
If your living north of the equator then you can see it most nights above and to the left of Orion's Belt (three stars in a row)
No, it is not visible about 2 months out of the year, when it is on the other side of the Sun from the Earth.
No, only half the year.
Mars is easily visible, and its orbit can be calculated with considerable precision.
There are generally a couple of planets visible every night of the year. Which planets will be visible and when depends on where each of the planets (and the Earth itself) are in their orbits. Here on August 28, 2009, for example, Jupiter rises about sunset and is brightly visible all night. Venus and Mars rise before dawn. Saturn and Mercury are not visible this month, because they are too close to the Sun to be seen.
Since the planet Mars is a relatively bright object in the night sky, easily visible to the naked eye, it has been observed since ancient times, and there is no record of the first person to notice it.
Mars has trace amounts of water in the atmosphere, thus creating martian clouds.
Mars was discovered beforewritten history as it has always been visible to the naked eye.
Mars is visible from Earth about 10 months out of every year.
Mars is visible in the eastern sky at SOME time of night on roughly 330 nights of every year.
because it did
Yes, it all depends on when you are viewing them. Sometimes they will not be visible, other times they will.
Yes, Mars will be visible in the morning during the month of August.
Right now in June, 2009, Mars is easily visible in the eastern sky starting about 2 hours before dawn. As the Earth catches up with Mars in its orbit, it will rise earlier and earlier, until early next year it will be easily visible in the evening sky as well.
From Uranus
Mars is easily visible, and its orbit can be calculated with considerable precision.
All of them are if you have a telescope. If you don't, then Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are visible. Probably. Earth definitely is.
It's complicated... If (say) Venus is visible in a certain month, that doesn't mean it will be visible the next year in the same month - since the movements of the other planets are not synchronized with Earth's movement.
Yes it is.
There are generally a couple of planets visible every night of the year. Which planets will be visible and when depends on where each of the planets (and the Earth itself) are in their orbits. Here on August 28, 2009, for example, Jupiter rises about sunset and is brightly visible all night. Venus and Mars rise before dawn. Saturn and Mercury are not visible this month, because they are too close to the Sun to be seen.