1.   The nearby galaxies you can reach using a kind of special variable star.

2.   A pair of gas clouds in a nearby galaxy appears to be the tortured remains of two ancient gamma-ray bursts.

3.   But its occurrence in such a nearby galaxy, and in an age of spaceborne telescopes, has made it the most thoroughly observed supernova in history.

4.   So the Sloan team searched their data for relatively nearby galaxies with more distant galaxies behind them, lying along almost the same line of sight.