<P> In the Babylonian epic poem Enûma Eliš, the Milky Way is created from the severed tail of the primeval salt water dragoness Tiamat, set in the sky by Marduk, the Babylonian national god, after slaying her . This story was once thought to have been based on an older Sumerian version in which Tiamat is instead slain by Enlil of Nippur, but is now though to be purely an invention of Babylonian propagandists with the intention to show Marduk as superior to the Sumerian deities . </P> <P> Llys Dôn (literally "The Court of Dôn") is the traditional Welsh name for the constellation Cassiopeia . At least three of Dôn's children also have astronomical associations: Caer Gwydion ("The fortress of Gwydion") is the traditional Welsh name for the Milky Way, and Caer Arianrhod ("The Fortress of Arianrhod") being the constellation of Corona Borealis . </P> <P> In western culture, the name "Milky Way" is derived from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky . The term is a translation of the Classical Latin via lactea, in turn derived from the Hellenistic Greek γαλαξίας, short for γαλαξίας κύκλος (galaxías kýklos, "milky circle"). The Ancient Greek γαλαξίας (galaxias)--from root γαλακτ -, γάλα ("milk") + - ίας (forming adjectives)--is also the root of "galaxy", the name for our, and later all such, collections of stars . </P> <P> In Greek mythology, the Milky Way was formed after the trickster god Hermes suckled the infant Heracles at the breast of Hera, the queen of the gods, while she was asleep . When Hera awoke, she tore Heracles away from her breast and splattered her breast milk across the heavens . In another version of the story, Athena, the patron goddess of heroes, tricked Hera into suckling Heracles voluntarily, but he bit her nipple so hard that she flung him away, spraying milk everywhere . </P>

Where do we see milky way in our galaxy