Galileo saw countless stars

“I had intended to depict the entire constellation of Orion, but I was overwhelmed by the vast quantity of stars and by the limitations of time, so I have deferred this to another occasion. There are more than 500 stars distributed among the old ones within limits of one or two degrees of arc… I have observed the nature and the material of the Milky Way… The galaxy is, in fact, nothing but a congeries of innumerable stars grouped together in clusters… And what is even more remarkable, the stars which have been called “nebulous” by every astronomer to this time turn out to be groups of very small stars arranged in a wonderful manner.”

— drawing and quote from The Sidereal Messenger by Galileo Galilei, 1610