Stars and fixed stars

“Luminary points” in the sky that appear not to move due to their immense distance from Earth.

The term “fixed star” comes from the fact that these objects appear to move so slowly in the sky that their move is imperceptible on human timescales.

Around 6,000 stars can be spotted with a naked eye. The most luminous group of stars form permanent patterns called a constellation. These are the closest stars, all between ten to five or six thousand light-years away.

The diameter of the Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years away and is composed of about 300 billion stars.

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