"The Milky Way is nothing else but a mass of innumerable stars planted together in clusters"

Galileo Galilei's quote is a reference to the Milky Way, the galaxy in which our planetary system is located. He is suggesting that the Milky Way is composed of a large variety of stars that are organized together in clusters. This is an accurate description of the Milky Way, as it is approximated to include in between 100 and 400 billion stars. The stars are not randomly dispersed throughout the galaxy, however rather are arranged into clusters, or groups of stars that are bound together by gravity. This quote from Galileo Galilei is a testimony to his keen observational abilities and his understanding of the structure of the Milky Way. He was able to recognize that the Milky Way was made up of stars that were grouped together in clusters, and this insight has been confirmed by modern-day astronomy.