... allowthem to gauge the extent of the starry congregations withoutleaving the surface of the Earth. The most important clue to the distribution of stars is the phenomenon we call the Milky Way. The ... of the sky is, of course, due to the rotation of the Earth, not the sky, and we know that the starsare not all at the same distance, as they would be if they werefixed to the inner surface of ... Alkaid, the last star of the handle away from the dipper cup, lies about twice as far awayas Dubhe, the uppermost of the two stars in the outer edge of the cup. In the mind’s eye, we see the stars...