Mind you spacing between star varies enormously! About 130 parsecs away is the Pleiades cluster containing over 3000 stars in an area about 13ly accross. A recent veiw on Astonomy Picture of the Day gives some links for further information. (It's usually worth veiwing APOD for inspiration & pretty pictures!) http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071118.html Mike