Three clouds may cover the plane (Q5940145)

Given a point \(a\) in the plane \({\mathbb R}^2\), \(A \subset {\mathbb R}^2\) is called a cloud around \(a\) if it intersects every line through \(a\) in a finite set. \(C \subset {\mathbb R}^2\) is a circle around \(a\) if it intersects every half-line from \(a\) in one point. The author proves that the continuum hypothesis holds if and only if the plane is the union of three clouds. More generally, if the continuum has size at most \(\aleph_n\), then the plane is the union of \(n + 2\) clouds. For \(n \geq 2\) it is open whether the converse holds. The author also shows that the plane is the union of countably many circles.