The Milky Way galaxy weighs about 1 trillion times as much as our sun, according to a new estimate. Previous estimates had ranged from 750 billion solar masses to up to 2 trillion. Lately, researchers have been leaning toward the higher figure. But now astronomers have used a more refined method to conclude that our galaxy's mass is slightly less than 1 trillion solar masses. The galaxy's mass is a mix of stars, gas, dust and mysterious dark matter. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24845346/

I don't think I can get that many zeros in this little answer box.

... a trick question, right? ... our galaxy is spinning in space, weightless ... it is not sitting on a surface with a gravity force beneath it ... ... I believe you meant to ask about the mass of our galaxy ... and "Ed" is close enough, it is about a trillion times the mass of our own sun ...

Just how much does the Milky Way weigh? Answer: About 1 trillion times as much as our sun. http://www.ask.com/bar?q=how+much+does+a+galaxy+weigh&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=0&title=Just+how+much+does+the+Milky+Way+weigh%3F+-+Space.com-+msnbc.com&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.msnbc.msn.com%2Fid%2F24845346%2F&sg=oefsMdpEu0LXW9SvrWkEGME%2F7w%2FJG4Tj1hJoxylsCMU%3D&tsp=1256238853574 A newer figure is discussed: How do you weigh the Milky Way? 17:04 20 January 2009 by Rachel Courtland Earlier this month, astronomers announced a new measurement of the Milky Way's mass - saying it is 50% heftier than thought and about as heavy as our nearest large neighbour, Andromeda. The new result is a major revision and a full three times larger than another team's recent estimate. It also raises a question: why don't astronomers know how much our home galaxy weighs? Astronomers have attempted to measure the mass of the Milky Way since the 1920s. But the measurement turns out to be exceedingly tricky, not least because some 90% of the galaxy's mass is thought to be made of dark matter - a mysterious, invisible substance that only reveals its presence by its gravitational tugs on stars and gas clouds. For a number of other galaxies, astronomers can circumvent the dark-matter problem by observing how a galaxy bends the light of more distant galaxies. The larger the distortion, the stronger the gravitational tug of the intervening galaxy's ordinary and dark matter. But because of Earth's position within the Milky Way, astronomers cannot take such a global view. Instead they are limited to directly measuring objects in orbit: the galaxy's gas and stars, as well as distant satellite galaxies and star clusters. In principle, the motion of these objects can be used to estimate a fraction of the galaxy's mass. The faster they move, the more mass must lie within their orbits to keep them from escaping into intergalactic space. http://www.ask.com/bar?q=how+much+does+a+galaxy+weigh&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=2&title=How+do+you+weigh+the+Milky+Way%3F+-+space+-+20+January+2009+-+New&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newscientist.com%2Farticle%2Fdn16411-how-do-you-weigh-the-milky-way.html&sg=bJuvv1vccvzgxlqWXN6p%2FMRDj1OPaz0JzJCGNXAr%2F5w%3D&tsp=1256238853574