Capturing photographs of the Milky Way from Earth is limited to viewing a broad band of stars, gas, and dust due to our position within the galaxy. A complete view of the Milky Way's spiral structure is impossible without being outside of it, similar to how one cannot photograph Earth from its surface. Any artistic or computer-generated images depicting the Milky Way as a spiral are not accurate representations. True photographs would require a satellite to venture tens of thousands of light years away, a process that would take millions of years. Currently, no satellites are on such a mission, making authentic images of the Milky Way from outside unattainable for the foreseeable future.