Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, This is our first post.
When we look at the Milky Way in the night sky, are we seeing the spiral arm that our solar system is part of, or is it one of the inner spiral arms?
Where is the centre of our galaxy in relation to the fixed stars we can observe? I understand that there may be a super giant Black Hole there, but why can't we see our galactic centre?
Any info very much appreciated to start off our research journey.
Cheers
(Northern hemisphere - UK)

Hi,

I recommend the Wikipedia article on this topic, it has some nice illustrations too that I believe will answer your questions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way

Cheers, Ivo