All of astrophysics depends on knowing accurate distances. Here, we see how knowing the distance to a well-studied, nearby star cluster can help us begin to determine the size scale of the Universe. We see how parallaxes and brightnesses in standard filters can get us all the way out to extremely far distances, and teach us about the nature of those distant places. Hertzsprung-Russell diagram: Luminosity/Radius/Temperature Relation: ESA's HIPPARCOS Mission: ESA's Gaia Mission: Spectroscopic Parallax: UBV photometric system: Baader UBVRI Photometric Filterset: (Psst... I don't endorse them, I just want you to see that you can, in theory, purchase such things if you wish...) Hyades Star Cluster: Pleiades Star Cluster: Perseus Double Star Cluster: Stella Reino, et al; "A Gaia study of the Hyades open cluster". MNRAS, April, 2018: Journey to the Hyades Cluster and Beyond (video): Reanalysis of nearby open clusters using Gaia DR1/TGAS and HSOY: Cosmic Distance ladder: 0:00 Introduction 0:01 Distances Using Astrometry: HIPPARCOS 1:00 Gaia: The Next Generation of Parallax Distances 1:42 Distances to stars using brightness in two filters! 7:13 Extending the Cosmic Distance Scale 8:40 Difficulties with Spectroscopic Parallax 11:24 How do we measure brightness? 12:44 Astronomical Color Filters 12:55 The difference in brightness measured in two filters determines the temperature of the star! 13:17 The Hyades Star Cluster 16:33 Distances to Clusters using the Hyades 23:46 The Pleiades; M45: The Seven Sisters 24:58 The Perseus Double Cluster 27:12 Comparing the Hyades to the farther Pleiades, shows that the same kind of light source placed farther away, looks dimmer. 31:14 Voyage to the Hyades: the Closest Cluster 32:47 REVIEW QUESTIONS.