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From the outset I understood that on the grand macro scale of things, the universe is similar in every direction ...

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Well, that's an open question. Most cosmologists would agree with you, but the subject is certainly debatable.

However, the scale has to get really grand before homogeneity sets in. At the billion-light-year scale, the universe is still quite clumpy and highly organized. Galaxy filaments and sheets are genuinely gigantic structures! And since almost everything visible in backyard scopes lies within a billion l-y of Earth, the night sky as amateurs know it is quite the opposite of homogeneous.

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Tony Flanders

eyeglasses
6x15 and 8x32 monoculars
8x25, 7x35, 10x30 IS, 10x50, and 15x70 binoculars
70mm and 100mm achromatic refractors
4.5", 7", and 12.5" Dobs

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