I was told that the name 'Milky Way' first came about when people observered the milky looking stretch of sky; that is, before telescopes came about and we realised it wasn't a milky cloud, but rather a collection of stars, our galaxy.
So strictly speaking, Milky Way refers to that visible milky patch in the sky, rather than the collection of stars that is our galaxy, and that over time they've come to have the same name.
Is this the case? If so, does our Galaxy itself have its own name?
Best Answer
As far as I know the name of the galaxy is "The Milky Way Galaxy". The evolution of the name is as you describe but it has come to be used as the name of the galaxy as well not just what is visible on the sky.