Estimating the Mass of the Milky Way Using the Sun's Orbital Motion

This project provides an estimation of the mass of the Milky Way inside the Sun's orbital distance from the Galactic Centre. Based on the Sun's orbital velocity and its distance from the Galactic Centre, the project uses Newton's law of universal gravitation and principles of circular motion to estimate the mass of the Milky Way inside the Sun's orbit. The approximation uses a circular orbit and spherical symmetry. The calculations and limitations related to these approximations are presented along with a discussion of the difference between the mass of the Milky Way inside the Sun's orbit and the total mass of the Milky Way. This is an independent educational physics project applying established principles of classical mechanics to an astronomical problem.