Editing Milky Way

{{Era|Forerunner|Covenant|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post}}
{{Wikipedia}milky way galaxyTemple🚻🔛🛐🔙👪🔚🕎🔜✡️🔝art of the Covenant}
[[File:Milky Way 2.jpg|thumb|The Milky Way as seen from [[Installation 00|the Ark]]. The pink 'dots' are massive patches of intense star formation.]]
[[File:Ssc2008-10a.jpg|thumb|An overhead view of the Milky Way.]]
[[File:HWF MilkyWay.jpg|thumb|A map of the Milky Way galaxy as seen in ''[[Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo|Halo: Warfleet]]''.]]milky way galaxyTemple🚻🔛🛐🔙👪🔚🕎🔜✡️🔝art of the Covenant Yahweh's Trinity's Daniel go to heaven and earth and space museum of art🔜🛐🔚🕎🔝✡️🔙♎️🔛🛡️
The '''Milky Way''' is a [[wikipedia:Barred spiral galaxy|barred spiral galaxy]] approximately 100,000 light years in diameter that lies within the [[wikipedia:Local group|local group]] of the galactic neighborhood. It is approximately 100,000 light years in diameter and is estimated to contain 100—400 billion stars. The Milky Way is orbited by two small satellite galaxies known as the [[Magellanic Clouds]].<ref name="clouds">'''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''', ''page 268''</ref> It is the galaxy where [[human]]ity and the former [[Covenant]] client species reside,<ref>'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''page 26''</ref> “The Covenant, as an empire, dominated much of the galaxy, though they would generally leave a world untouched unless it offered particular treasures, whether practical or religious”. The UNSC, however, is largely limited to the [[Orion Arm]] of the Milky Way.<ref name="Warfleet">''[[Halo: Warfleet]]'', p. 12-13</ref> The galaxy is also home to a number of other intelligent species, although only a small number of these have attained spacefaring or even technological status.<ref name="bulkhead banter">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/canon-fodder-bulkhead-banter '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Bulkhead Banter'']</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Milky Way.jpg|thumb|The Milky Way seen in infrared from Earth.]]
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy of either [[wikipedia:SBb|SBb]] or [[wikipedia:SBc|SBc]] classification on the Hubble Sequence. It has two major arms, each sporting several minor arms that stem off of the major arm. One of these arms, the [[Sagittarius Arm]], is home to the [[Orion Arm]]. Splotches of intense star birth and formation can be seen in the arms. These areas are pink/red in hue and appear as wisps or clouds situated in the galactic plane. The Milky Way is visible from [[Earth]] as a band of light in the night sky, from which its [[English]] name derives from.

The Milky Way is composed of a disk, in which all the arms and the majority of galactic matter lies, and the galactic bulge, essentially the center of a galaxy. The bulge is home to the galactic nucleus, the dead center of a galaxy and home to an extremely dense clustering of ancient stars. The nucleus is also thought to support a supermassive black hole. Additionally, most known galaxies possess a halo of old and dying star clusters left over from the galaxy's formation. These clusters are situated up to 100,000 light years from the galactic bulge. Habitable planets may certainly lie within the halo, and some clusters may escape the range of the Halo effect given their distance from the galactic center.

==History==
===Prehistory===
100,000 years before the present day, the previous galactic community was dominated by the [[Forerunner]]s, a now [[extinction|extinct]] species that possessed extremely advanced technology and [[Ecumene|an empire]] that spanned a significant portion of the galaxy. Millions of years before the rise of the Forerunners, an even more advanced civilization known as the [[Precursor]]s controlled the Milky Way. Having reached the pinnacle of [[Technological Achievement Tiers|technological advancement]], they were believed to have significantly contributed to the evolution of life across the galaxy, even created several species, such as Forerunners and humans. Over ten million years before the present, however, the Forerunners [[Forerunner-Precursor war|rose up against]] their creators in defiance of their decision to bestow their [[Mantle]] on humanity,<ref name="primordium">'''[[Halo: Primordium]]'''</ref> and seemingly ended their rule in the galaxy after destroying their last remnants in the [[Large Magellanic Cloud]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 181-182''</ref>

The Forerunners, originating from [[Ghibalb]] in the [[Orion complex]], ruled a large portion of the galaxy for millions of years, affecting the development of other species as they saw fit. Around [[150,000 BCE]], [[human]]ity, still composed of many species, arose from their homeworld Earth, known as "Erde-Tyrene" at the time. They mastered interstellar travel and began to move [[Prehistoric human civilization|their civilization]] along the Orion Arm of the Milky Way. They later [[Human-San'Shyuum alliance|allied]] with the [[San'Shyuum]] species, forming a prosperous interstellar empire based on the planet [[Charum Hakkor]]. Around [[107,445 BCE]], humanity and their San'Shyuum allies came into contact with the Flood, a sentient parasite supposedly originating from the [[Large Magellanic Cloud]].<ref name="clouds"/> Hundreds of systems were lost to the parasite in the [[Human-Flood war|resulting conflict]]. Meanwhile, humanity's aggressive expansion and the perceived violations of the [[Mantle]] prompted the Forerunners to take action and begin [[human-Forerunner wars|a war]] against humanity. Although the Flood later withdrew and seemingly died out from the galaxy, it had already weakened the humans enough to allow the Forerunners to emerge victorious.<ref name="cryptum">'''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'''</ref>

Following the war in approximately [[106,445 BCE]], the Forerunners dismantled humanity's civilization, regressing them into a [[Technological Achievement Tiers|Tier 7 species]]. The remaining humans were devolved and exiled to their homeworld, where they slowly began to redevelop [[Erde-Tyrene civilization|a primitive civilization]] under the tutelage of the Forerunner [[Lifeshaper]], the [[Librarian]].<ref name="cryptum"/>

===Activation of the Halo Array===
{{Main|Forerunner-Flood war}}

10,000 years after humanity's conflict with the Flood, the parasite resurfaced and attacked worlds of the Forerunners' domain. Encounters with the Flood led to the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], with the Flood consuming or killing the great majority of the galaxy's sentient species as the Forerunners first studied them, and then tried to stop them. Eventually, the Forerunners were forced to activate the ultimate weapon, the [[Halo Array]], in order to stop them - at the same time, killing its builders. The Forerunners built safe havens, including the [[Shield World]]s and [[Installation 00|the Ark]], to save the remaining sentient species in plan known as the [[Conservation Measure]], before [[Great Purification|activating the Array]], scouring the galaxy of all sentient life forms and killing the Flood except for samples kept on the Halos, then releasing the saved species from their havens to their home worlds.

===Galactic recovery===
Almost 100,000 years afterward, the galaxy had recovered substantially, leading to the rise of two great civilizations; the [[UNSC]], comprised of the majority of humanity and controlled from [[Earth]], and the [[Covenant]], a hegemony of many different species who worshiped the Forerunners as gods. Contact between the UNSC and Covenant was not peaceful, leading to the [[Human-Covenant War]], which destroyed hundreds of human colonies and killed billions of colonists and UNSC military personnel, since the Covenant possessed more advanced technology, mostly reverse-engineered from Forerunner artifacts.

The discovery of one of the Forerunners Halo installations set forth a series of events that would not only end the war, but also destroy the Covenant and begin a Covenant civil war, or [[Great Schism]]. Triggered by the replacement of the [[Sangheili]] with the [[Jiralhanae]] in the Covenant military hierarchy, the Sangheili left the Covenant, in the process that consumed a significant amount of the Covenant's populace and resources. A [[Fleet of Retribution|major breakaway faction]] led by [[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]], realizing that the [[Prophets]] were conducting an unjustified war against humanity and planning a misguided activation of the [[Halo Array]], allied with the UNSC to stop them, leading to the destruction of the Covenant in the [[Battle of Installation 00]].

===Post-war===
Following the end of the Human-Covenant War, humanity began a long process of rebuilding, while elements within the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] sought to ensure their former enemies - mainly the Sangheili - would not rise again. Meanwhile, humanity gained significant advances in technology due to the discovery of Forerunner artifacts during and after the war.

Though the civilization of the Sangheili had plunged into chaos due to the [[Covenant remnants|breaking of the Covenant]],<ref name="glass">'''Halo: Glasslands'''</ref> the conflict between them and the Jiralhanae would still rage by [[2559]]. Humanity, as well, would continue to face conflict both within and without, in the form of resurgent [[Insurrectionist]] movements as well as various hostile [[Covenant remnants]]. [[Post-Covenant War conflicts|These irregular conflicts]] later saw significant Forerunner involvement, both in terms of contention for Forerunner artifacts but also the reawakening of the Forerunner commander known as the [[Ur-Didact]] and his [[Promethean]] armies on [[Requiem]].

Months after the Didact's release, [[Cortana]], a human [[artificial intelligence]] who played a key role in the waning years of the Human-Covenant War, staged an AI [[Created|rebellion]] against the galaxy's organic species using a legion of Promethean warriors and a caste of Forerunner constructs known as [[Guardian Custode]]s. Using the latter, Cortana disabled most contemporary technologies across hundreds of colonies across the Milky Way, both human and alien, bringing the species under her aegis on pain of death.

==Exploration==
===UNSC===
{{Main|Human colonies}}
[[File:Halo Star Map V2.png|300px|thumb|A near-accurate star map of several notable human-colonized systems.]]
The human colonization of space in the modern era began with the colonization of the [[Sol system|Solar System]] during the late 21st and early to mid-22nd centuries. During this time, [[Luna]], [[Mars]], the [[Jovian Moons]] and a number of [[asteroid]]s in the system were colonized by Earth's various [[national government]]s, under the direction of the [[United Nations]]. During [[2160]] - [[2170]], the Solar System was the site of several conflicts, the most prominent being the [[Interplanetary War]]. These conflicts also marked the beginning of the [[United Nations Space Command]].

The development of the [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]] in 2291 allowed humanity to leave the confines of its home star system for the first time and explore Earth's interstellar neighborhood, ushering in an age of rapid colonization and expansion. The first line of colony ships were unveiled in [[2310]], and over the next 28 years, the UNSC began terraforming and colonizing more than 210 worlds, which would become the Inner Colonies. Colonial expansion continued and by [[2490]], UNSC colonial space encompassed over 800 worlds, large and small, in the [[Orion Arm]]. The success of colonization of the [[Outer Colonies]] made the Inner Colonies the primary stronghold, both military and economic, though they relied heavily on raw materials supplied by the Outer Colonies. At the end of the Golden Age of human expansion in the twilight of the 25th century, tensions between the Inner and Outer colonies culminated in hundreds of civil wars waged across the Outer Colonies, collectively termed as the [[Insurrection]].

In [[2525]], humanity made contact with the genocidal alien hegemony known as the [[Covenant]], bent on humanity's destruction. During the 27 years of conflict, hundreds of human colonies were destroyed and billions of civilians and military personnel were killed by the Covenant.

===Covenant===
{{Main|Covenant}}
[[File:H5G - Milky Way.png|thumb|left|250px|A Covenant hologram of the Milky Way aboard ''[[Undiminished Entelechy]]''.]]
Because the Covenant have been spacefaring for over three millennia,<ref>'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''', ''page 30''</ref> and possess far superior [[astrogation|slipstream navigation]] technology to humanity, they have explored a significantly larger portion of the galaxy than humanity has. Encompassing thousands of systems, the Covenant Empire was so expansive and complex that entire worlds and sub-domains could disappear from records for decades before contact resumed.<ref>''[[Halo: Warfleet]]'', p. 52</ref> The Covenant dominated much of the galaxy but would leave a world untouched unless it had religious or practical importance.<ref>[[Halo Waypoint]]</ref> The Covenant have discovered and explored several Forerunner [[shield world]]s as well as other Forerunner artifacts, from which they have acquired much of their advanced technology.

The [[Human-Covenant War]] has devastated numerous human worlds, but at least two Covenant worlds, [[Joyous Exultation]] and [[Glyke]], were devastated by UNSC [[NOVA bomb]]s. Earlier on, both [[Taming of the Hunters|Te]] and [[Unggoy Rebellion|Balaho]], the Lekgolo and Unggoy homeworlds respectively, were almost [[glassed]] during the [[Covenant]]'s history.
{{Clear}}

===Forerunner===
{{Main|Forerunner}}
The Forerunners, having been spacefaring for millions of years and possessing slipspace technology allowing them to cross galactic distances in a negligible time, had explored significant portions of the galaxy. Their [[ecumene]] encompassed three million fertile worlds,<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 9''</ref> along with many artificial installations they had constructed. The Forerunners divided the galaxy into [[margin arc]]s and [[thema]]s, with the latter being defined by galactic-scale magnetic fields.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 234-235''</ref> They were also capable of traveling [[intergalactic space|outside the galaxy]], including an expedition to the [[Path Kethona|Large Magellanic Cloud]] and the construction of the [[Ark]]s hundreds of thousands of lightyears from the galaxy.<ref>'''Halo 3''', campaign level ''[[The Ark]]''</ref>

==Locations==
[[File:Milky-Way-labeled.jpg|thumb|250px|An overview of the Milky Way galaxy with the major spiral arms and Sol's location labeled.]]

*[[wikipedia:Perseus Arm|'''Perseus Arm''']]
*[[wikipedia:Cygnus Arm|'''Norma Arm''']]
*[[wikipedia:Scutum-Centaurus Arm|'''Scutum-Centaurus Arm''']]
*[[Sagittarius Arm]]

===Orion Arm===
{{Main|Orion Arm}}
The Orion Arm is a minor spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. Both the [[Human colonies|human sphere]] and the former [[Covenant Empire]] lie within the Orion Arm.<ref name="Warfleet"/> The [[Forerunner]] homeworld [[Ghibalb]], as well as the [[Orion complex]] which housed the galaxy-spanning Forerunner [[ecumene]]'s core worlds, are also located in this spiral arm, as well as the contemporary empires of other species, including [[prehistoric human civilization|humanity]] and the [[San'Shyuum]]. The Orion Arm was the setting for the [[Human-Covenant War]] of the 26th Century and the ancient [[Forerunner-Flood war]]. It is home to two of the Forerunners' [[Halo Array|Halo installations]], [[Installation 01|01]] and [[Installation 04|04]],<ref name="Warfleet"/> and a [[Portal at Voi|slipspace portal]] to [[Installation 00|the Ark]] on [[Earth]].

*[[Human colonies#List of known colonies|Human systems and worlds]] {{C|[[Prehistoric human civilization#Sphere of influence|prehistoric humans]]}}
*[[Covenant#Known Covenant worlds|Covenant systems and worlds]]
*[[Ecumene#Known regions, systems and worlds|Forerunner systems and worlds]]
{{Clear}}

==Trivia==
{{Linkbox|gallery=yes|gallerypage=Images of the Milky Way}}
*There are four engagements or conflicts known to have taken place outside the Milky Way in modern times. They are the [[Battle of Installation 00]], [[Operation: FAR STORM]], [[Attack on Installation 00]] and [[Second Ark Conflict]]. Two other cases of extragalactic conflict are known to have occurred in the distant past; the [[Battle of the greater Ark]] in the final days of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]] and the later stages of the [[Forerunner-Precursor war]] over ten million years earlier.
*The Milky Way can be seen from [[Installation 00|the Ark]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Galaxy map.jpg|The Milky Way as seen on [[Halo2.com]].
File:H3_Orbital_Galaxy.jpg|A view of the galaxy, as seen on the ''[[Halo 3]]'' map [[Orbital]].
File:H5G-Lasky&Roland.jpg|[[Roland]] and [[Thomas Lasky|Lasky]] examining the takeover of multiple systems by the [[Created]].
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]] {{1st}}
**''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach#2010 bonus content|Adjunct]]''
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''
*''[[Halo: The Flood]]''
**''[[Halo: The Flood#2010 bonus content|Adjunct]]''
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]''
**''[[Halo: First Strike#2010 bonus content|Adjunct]]''
**''[[Petra]]''
**''[[Tug o' War]]''
*''[[i love bees]]'' {{C|Partial Non-canonical appearance}}
*''[[Halo 2]]''
**''[[Conversations from the Universe]]''
*''[[Halo Graphic Novel]]''
**''[[Armor Testing]]''
**''[[Breaking Quarantine]]''
**''[[Halo Graphic Novel, Page 122|Page 122]]''
**''[[Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa]]''
**''[[The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor]]''
*''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''
*''[[Starry Night]]''
*''[[Iris]]''
**''[[Halo 3: The Cradle of Life]]''
*''[[Believe]]'' 
**''[[Believe: The John 117 Monument]]'' 
**''[[Diorama]]'' 
**''[[Enemy Weapon]]'' 
**''[[Gravesite]]'' 
**''[[Hunted]]'' 
**''[[Museum]]'' 
*''[[Halo: Landfall]]''
**''[[Halo: Arms Race]]''
**''[[Halo: Combat]]''
**''[[Halo: Last One Standing]]''
*''[[Halo: Uprising]]''
*''[[Halo 3]]''
**''[[Bestiarum]]''
**''[[Terminal/Halo 3|Terminals]]''
*''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''
*''[[Halo: The Cole Protocol]]''
*''[[Halo Wars: Genesis]]''
*''[[Halo Wars]]''
*''[[Halo: Helljumper]]''
*''[[The Life]]''
*''[[Halo 3: ODST Pre-mission Evaluation]]''
*''[[Halo 3: ODST]]''
**''[[Sadie's Story]]''
*''[[Halo Legends]]''
**''[[Homecoming]]''
**''[[Odd One Out]]'' {{C|Non-canonical appearance}}
**''[[Origins]]''
**''[[Prototype]]''
**''[[The Babysitter]]''
**''[[The Duel]]''
**''[[The Package (animated short)|The Package]]''
*''[[Halo: Evolutions]]''
**''[[Blunt Instruments]]''
**''[[Dirt]]''
**''[[From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal]]''
**''[[Headhunters (short story)|Headhunters]]''
**''[[Human Weakness]]''
**''[[Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian]]
**''[[Palace Hotel]]''
**''[[Pariah]]''
**''[[Soma the Painter]]''
**''[[Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss]]''
**''[[The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole]]''
**''[[The Mona Lisa]]''
**''[[The Return]]''
**''[[Wages of Sin]]''
{{col-2}}
*''[[Halo: Blood Line]]''
*''[[Remember Reach]]''
**''[[Birth of a Spartan]]''
**''[[Patrol]]''
**''[[Spaceport (Remember Reach)|Spaceport]]
**''[[New Life]]''
**''[[Deliver Hope]]''
*''[[Halo: Reach]]''
**''[[Data pads]]''
**''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]''
*''[[Halo: Fall of Reach]]''
**''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp|Boot Camp]]''
**''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Covenant|Covenant]]''
**''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion|Invasion]]''
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''
*''[[Halo: Glasslands]]''
*''[[Halo Living Monument]]''
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''
**''[[Terminal/Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary|Terminals]]''
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]''
*''[[The Commissioning]]''
*''[[Halo: The Thursday War]]''
*''[[Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn]]''
*''[[Section 3 ARG]]''
*''[[Scanned]]'' {{C|Partial Non-canonical appearance}}
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Terminal/Halo 4|Terminals]]''
**''[[Spartan Ops]]''
**''[[Infinity Briefing Packet]]''
*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''
*''[[Rebirth]]''
*''[[Halo: Spartan Assault]]''
*''[[Halo: Initiation]]''
*''[[Halo: Escalation]]''
*''[[Halo: Mortal Dictata]]''
*''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]''
*''[[Halo: Nightfall]]''
*''[[Halo 2 Anniversary]]''
**''[[Terminal/Halo 2 Anniversary|Terminals]]''
*''[[Halo: New Blood]]''
**''[[Halo: New Blood#2016 bonus content|Coda]]''
*''[[Hunt the Truth]]''
**''[[All Hail]]''
**''[[The Cost]]''
**''[[Hunt the Signal]]''
**''[[A Hero Falls]]''
**''[[The Hunt Begins]]''
*''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]''
*''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]''
*''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]''
*''[[Halo: Saint's Testimony]]''
*''[[Halo: Last Light]]''
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series]]''
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''
**''[[Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition|Limited Edition]]''
*''[[Halo: Shadow of Intent]]''
*''[[Halo Wars 2]]''
*''[[Halo: Tales from Slipspace]]''
*''[[Halo Infinite]]''
*''[[Halo: The Television Series]]''
{{col-end}}

==Sources==
<references/>

[[Category:Galaxies]]