Attention Is DiscoveryBy: Anna Von Mertens A portrait of trailblazing astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and an illustrated exploration of the power of attention in scientific observation, artistic creation, and the making of meaning. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has a diameter of about 100,000 light yearsa figure we can calculate because of the work of Henrietta Leavitt (18681921), who spent decades studying glass plate photographs of the night sky. Visual artist and researcher