Metaphase is characterized by the alignment of chromosomes on the equator of the cell. Metaphase is the third phase of mitosis , a type of cell division that takes place in the somatic cells where a parent cell divides into two identical diploid daughter cells. During this phases the cell's chromosomes align themselves at the middle of the cell, called the equator. The chromosomes, which have been replicated and remain joined at a central point called the centromere, are called sister chromatids.
