"Any man that can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

"...the mass where we can see stars is only 1/3 of the mass of the entire Galaxy. This suggests that a lot of mass in the Milky Way is in some form which does not radiate large amounts of light (Dark Matter)."

"All objects are in orbit around the center of our Galaxy. To see how this allows us to infer the mass of our Galaxy, consider the Earth in its orbit in our Solar System."

"The mass of an object is one of the most fundamental properties of the object. As such, reliable ways to measure mass are exceedingly important. One way is to simply measure the optical emission (luminosity of a galaxy) and to (independently) determine the average mass of a star in the galaxy. This will then lead to an estimate for the mass of the galaxy if all of the luminosity is in fact due to the stars and all material radiates in a similar manner. This method has problems because it is sometimes difficult to know whether all mass produces radiation."

"We have finally established the contours that define the supercluster of galaxies we can call home … This is not unlike finding out for the first time that your hometown is actually part of much larger country that borders other nations."

"It’s like water dividing at a watershed, where it flows either to the left or right of a height of land."

"For the first time, astronomers have outlined and named the network of galaxies that includes the Milky Way, adding a line to our cosmic address and further defining our place in the universe. They call it Laniakea, which is Hawaiian for “immense heaven.”"

"This week, scientists add a new line to our planetary coordinates: the Laniakea galaxy supercluster. Do not bother googling the name. It really is brand new, coined by an international group of astronomers … Our place in the Universe, for so long one of the core mysteries of human existence that scientists and this journal are dedicated to unravelling, just got a little clearer. Laniakea, the scientists write, is our home supercluster, the one in which the Milky Way resides. What kind of home is it? It is big — some 160 million parsecs across. Although not as big as some superclusters, it is the largest in our local neighbourhood, which is surprisingly crowded given the vast emptiness of most of the cosmological void. It is a home that has been hiding in plain sight, colossal and all around us, yet unnoticed by previous astronomical surveys. …The name Laniakea has Hawaiian roots, and roughly translated means spacious heaven. It is a beautiful address to have. And one that comes just in time for the new school year and a new curious generation."

"Scientists previously placed the Milky Way in the Virgo Supercluster, but under Tully and colleagues' definition, this region becomes just an appendage of the much larger Laniakea, which is 160 million parsecs (520 million light years) across and contains the mass of 100 million billion Suns."

"Astronomers have mapped the cosmic watershed in which our Milky Way Galaxy is a droplet. The massive structure, which the research team dubs the Laniakea Supercluster, extends more than 500 million light-years and contains 100,000 large galaxies. The work, published in the September 4th Nature, is the first to trace our local supercluster on such a large scale. It also provides a physical way to define what a supercluster actually is."

"The name Laniakea was suggested by Nawa‘a Napoleon, an associate professor of Hawaiian Language and chair of the Department of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature at Kapiolani Community College, a part of the University of Hawaii system. … The name honors Polynesian navigators who used knowledge of the heavens to voyage across the immensity of the Pacific Ocean."

"Pavo-Indus Supercluster."

"Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster, which contains the Great Attractor, the Laniakea central gravitational point,"

"You meaner beauties of the night, That poorly satisfy our eyes More by your number than your light; You common people of the skies,— What are you when the moon shall rise?"

"So Hector spake; and Trojans roar’d applause; Then loosed their sweating horses from the yoke, And each beside his chariot bound his own; And oxen from the city, and goodly sheep In haste they drove, and honey-hearted wine And bread from out the houses brought, and heap’d Their firewood, and the winds from off the plain Roll’d the rich vapor far into the heaven. And these all night upon the bridge of war Sat glorying; many a fire before them blazed: As when in heaven the stars about the moon Look beautiful, when all the winds are laid, And every height comes out, and jutting peak And valley, and the immeasurable heavens Break open to their highest, and all the stars Shine, and the Shepherd gladdens in his heart: So many a fire between the ships and stream Of Xanthus blazed before the towers of Troy, A thousand on the plain; and close by each Sat fifty in the blaze of burning fire; And eating hoary grain and pulse the steeds, Fixt by their cars, waited the golden dawn."

"Admirer as I think I am Of stars that do not give a damn, I cannot, now I see them, say I missed one terribly all day.Were all stars to disappear or die, I should learn to look at an empty sky And feel its total dark sublime, Though this might take me a little time."

"How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we could not return?"

"Looking up at the stars, I know quite well That, for all they care, I can go to hell,"

"But He is risen, a later star of dawn."

"God be thanked for the Milky Way that runs across the sky. That's the path that my feet would tread whenever I have to die. Some folks call it a Silver Sword, and some a Pearly Crown, But the only thing I think it is, is Main Street, Heaventown."

"She saw the snowy poles and moons of Mars, That marvellous field of drifted light In mid Orion, and the married stars—"

"The stars shall be rent into threds of light, And scatter'd like the beards of comets."

"Each separate star Seems nothing, but a myriad scattered stars Break up the Night, and make it beautiful."

"As shaking terrors from his blazing hair, A sanguine comet gleams through dusky air."

"Clamorem ad sidera mittunt."

"He that strives to touch a star, Oft stumbles at a straw."

"O that my spirit were yon heaven of night, Which gazes on thee with its thousand eyes."

"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via.— There is no easy way to the stars from the earth."

"Hesperus bringing together All that the morning star scattered."

"Thus some who have the Stars survey'd Are ignorantly led To think those glorious Lamps were made To light Tom Fool to bed."

"One naked star has waded through The purple shallows of the night, And faltering as falls the dew It drips its misty light."

"No star is ever lost we once have seen, We always may be what we might have been."

"Starry Crowns of Heaven Set in azure night! Linger yet a little Ere you hide your light:— Nay; let Starlight fade away, Heralding the day!"

"Would that I were the heaven, that I might be All full of love-lit eyes to gaze on thee."

"And the day star arise in your hearts."

"The stars stand sentinel by night."

"But soon, the prospect clearing, By cloudless starlight on he treads And thinks no lamp so cheering As that light which Heaven sheds."

"The quenchless stars, so eloquently bright, Untroubled sentries of the shadow'y night."

"Stars are the Daisies that begem The blue fields of the sky, Beheld by all, and everywhere, Bright prototypes on high."

"Now the bright morning-star, day's harbinger, Comes dancing from the east."

"Wide are the meadows of night And daisies are shining there, Tossing their lovely dews, Lustrous and fair; And through these sweet fields go, Wanderers amid the stars— Venus, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars."

"A wise man, Watching the stars pass across the sky, Remarked: In the upper air the fireflies move more slowly."

"Stars of the summer night! Far in yon azure deeps Hide, hide your golden light! She sleeps! My lady sleeps! Sleeps."

"There is no light in earth or heaven But the cold light of stars; And the first watch of night is given To the red planet Mars."

"Just above yon sandy bar, As the day grows fainter and dimmer, Lonely and lovely, a single star Lights the air with a dusky glimmer."

"The stars, heav'n sentry, wink and seem to die."

"The starres, bright sentinels of the skies."

"Hitch your wagon to a star."