Figure 22-2: Herschel’s Map of Our Galaxy In a paper published in 1785, the English astronomer William Herschel presented this map of the Milky Way Galaxy. He determined the Galaxy’s shape by counting the numbers of stars in various parts of the sky. Herschel’s conclusions were flawed because interstellar dust blocked his view of distant stars, leading him to the erroneous idea that the Sun is at the center of the Galaxy.
(Dr. Jeremy Burgess/Science Source)