Science continues to expand with respect to our galaxy. At one time the Milky Way was considered to have four major arms including Norma and Cygnus, Sagittarius, Scutum-Crux and Perseus. It also has several minor arms or spurs including Orion’s Spur which is the sector of the galaxy where Earth is located.
More recent studies suggest that there are only two major arms: Scutum-Crux and Perseus with Norma and Cygnus and Sagittarius relegated to minor arms when considering the number of stars in those two arms.
In the Orion’s Spur series, the major warring parties are from the Sagittarius arm on one side, and the Perseus arm on the second. From a sheer volume of populated stars recent studies would suggest that Sagittarius wouldn’t work as a superpower system. However, Number of stars was not a requirement for this conflict to develop. In the series it is pointed out that as a territorial dispute it is silly as both powers have far more stars in their system to explore than they do in Orion’s Spur, and the 10,000 years war has curtailed exploration and development in both arms and the Spur.
How many stars are in each of the Sagittarius and Perseus, and Orion’s Spur for that matter? Billions. But it is currently impossible to refine that number further. For example, the estimate for total stars in our galaxy ranges from 100 billion to 400 billion stars. That spread clearly points out that the answer is… we don’t know.
Orion’s Spur is about 10,000 light years long and 4,000 light years across. Guesses range from 500 million to more than a billion stars. As large as that sounds, the Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 across its axis. Another intriguing question is whether part of the outer arm of the Milky Way is being drawn away by yet another galaxy.
To me, a more relevant issue is the limited number of planets with interstellar travel in Orion’s Spur the series. The three main hubs that support interstellar repair facilities are not even traditional planets. One facility is hosted by Demeter, which is a small planet or large asteroid with a center that has been terra formed. Haumeah was once a planet that destroyed itself. The culture there now is developed in an asteroid belt caused by the explosion. Samar isn’t even an asteroid as it is entirely artificial. It is revealed that there are other planets that have developed early stage interstellar travel, but only in passing.
Why didn’t the three hubs use more traditional planets as their centers. That one has an explanation. The hubs are repair facilities for small and huge interstellar craft that would not be able to practically land in a strong gravity field.
In the last two books of the Orion’s Spur series I do address inviting other developing worlds into an independent coalition of planets not controlled by the two major superpowers. This poses a good question for the countries on planet Earth. The number of stories reflecting such attempts on our own planet would create an encyclopedia of opportunities for story lines.