galactic halo

galactic halo, in astronomy, nearly spherical volume of thinly scattered stars, globular clusters of stars, and tenuous gas observed surrounding spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way—the galaxy in which the Earth is located. The roughly spherical halo of the Milky Way is thought to have a radius of some 50,000 light-years (about 5 × 10¹⁷ kilometres), and its gas is a source of radio emission, particularly at the 21-centimetre wavelength (see 21-centimetre radiation).