A Tremendous, Upholding Arch And An Ice-Clear Galaxy

Operation Luna, 16.

"We'd reached a flat spot atop a ridge, thinly begrown, roofed with sky and the Milky Way a tremendous, upholding arch." (pp. 148-149)

Poul Anderson's descriptions of the Milky Way are endless. This is the second reference by Steve Matuchek that I have found in the current rereading of Operation Luna.

And here is a third, although this time the galaxy is not named:

"Once we'd gone beyond city lights, the stars gleamed brilliant around an ice-clear galaxy, so many that I could hardly make out the constellations toward which we flew, the Archer, the Eagle, and over our heads the Lyre and the Swan. We spoke little; we felt too small." (pp. 145-146)

Some Poul Anderson characters travel between those constellations. All of us can see them from Earth which is one small part of the galaxy.