The apparent brightness of stars, in general, tells us nothing about their distances; we cannot assume that the dimmer stars are farther away. In order for the apparent brightness of a star to be a good indicator of its distance, all the stars would have to be:

1. crust 1 the metallic layer at the earth's center 2. inner core 3 the firm layer between the crust and the asthenosphere 3. lower mantle 2 the layer surrounding the inner core 4. asthenosphere 4 the semi-solid layer between the top layer and the upper mantle 5. upper mantle 5 the layer between the asthenosphere and lower mantle 6. top layer 6 the earth's outermost layer 7. outer core 7 the hottest part of the mantle