Location from Foundation by Isaac Asimov
A term, not a place — 'the far edge of the galaxy,' except Seldon meant the other end from Terminus. A deliberate misdirection that hid the Second Foundation for centuries.
Seldon told the galaxy that the Second Foundation was located 'at Star's End.' This single phrase launched centuries of speculation, expeditions, and paranoia. The First Foundation assumed it meant the physical edge of the galaxy opposite Terminus and searched the Periphery in the other direction. They found nothing because they were looking in the wrong place. The solution is linguistic, not geographic. The stars end at the center of the galaxy — where stellar density drops off toward the galactic core. Trantor sits near this point. 'Star's End' meant 'where Seldon started,' the other end of the line from Terminus. The Second Foundation was hiding on the most famous planet in the galaxy, and nobody looked there because nobody expected Seldon to be that audacious. Star's End is Asimov's commentary on how assumptions shape perception. The First Foundation's search was thorough, brilliant, and completely wrong because they never questioned their interpretation of the clue. The answer was always in plain sight. The hardest things to find are the ones you're certain can't be where they are.
Star's End has no physical form because it was never a location — it was a riddle. When the First Foundation searched for it, they imagined a distant planet at the galaxy's opposite rim, and searched accordingly. The 'appearance' of Star's End is whatever the searcher projects onto it: a remote outpost, a hidden base, a fortified world. The answer — Trantor, sitting at the galactic center — looks nothing like what anyone expected.
Also known as: Star's End, the other end of the galaxy