Distribution of distances of O-rich Mira variable stars with a period, P, within log₁₀[P(days)] > 2.6 for −20^◦ < ℓ < 30^◦, 1.5^◦ < |b| < 2.5^◦ (top panel; moderate extinction, high completeness) or |b| < 1.5^◦ (bottom panel; high extinction, low completeness). The dashed line shows the best fit to a long bar within 10^◦ < ℓ < 30^◦ for bins with a mask (removing the high-extinction areas), d < R_⊙, whereas the dotted line shows the corresponding d(ℓ) for an angle of α = 20.2^◦, as fitted for the major axis of the bulge (Iwanek et al. 2023). The dashed cyan line marks a tentative imprint of the far 3 kpc arm.