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Galaxies
Galaxies Galaxies are collections of stars, gas, and dust, combined with some unknown form of dark matter, all bound together by gravity. The visible parts come in a variety of sizes, ranging from a few thousand light yearswith a billion stars, to 100,000 light-years... Read more |
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star cluster
star cluster a group of stars near each other in space and resembling each other in certain characteristics that suggest a common origin for the group. Stars in the same cluster move at the same rate and in the same direction. Two types of clusters can be distinguished—open clusters, also... Read more |
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Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn
Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn , 1851-1922, Dutch astronomer. He was an authority on the Milky Way, of which he made notable statistical studies; he constructed a model of the galaxy known as the "Kapteyn universe." He computed the positions of the stars of the Southern Hemisphere photographed by Sir... Read more |
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Sagittarius
Sagittarius [Lat.,=the archer], constellation lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Scorpius and Capricornus; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac . It is traditionally depicted as a centaur drawing his bow to release an arrow. The constellation... Read more |
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Magellanic Clouds
Magellanic Clouds , two dwarf galaxies located in the far southern sky and visible to the unaided eye; they are classified as irregular because they show no definite symmetry or nucleus. The larger of the two, known as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), is located mostly in the constellation Dorado;... Read more |
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aberration of starlight
aberration of starlight displacement of the apparent path of light from a star, resulting in a displacement of the apparent position of the star from its true position; discovered by the English astronomer James Bradley and explained by him in 1729. The phenomenon is caused by the orbital motion of... Read more |
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galaxy
galaxy large aggregation of stars , gas, and dust, typically containing billions of stars. Recognition that galaxies are independent star systems outside the Milky Way came from a study of the Andromeda Galaxy (1926-29) by Edwin P. Hubble that indicated the great distances at which this and... Read more |
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binary star
binary star or binary system, pair of stars that are held together by their mutual gravitational attraction and revolve about their common center of mass. In 1650 Riccioli made the first binary system discovery, that of the middle star in the Big Dipper's handle, Zeta Urase Majoris. True binary... Read more |
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Jan Hendrik Oort
Jan Hendrik Oort , 1900-1992, Dutch astronomer. He confirmed (1927) Bertil Lindblad's theory of the Milky Way galaxy's rotation. In the 1950s he and his colleagues used radio astronomical means to map the spiral-arm structure of the galaxy. Oort proposed (1950) that comets originate in a cloud of... Read more |
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Aquila (astronomy)
Aquila [Lat.,=the eagle], equatorial constellation located N of Sagittarius and Capricornus, lying partly in the Milky Way. It is sometimes depicted as an eagle. It contains the bright star Altair (Alpha Aquilae) and the pulsating variable star Eta Aquilae. The brightest nova ever seen occurred... Read more |
 "The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)")
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A WHOLE LOT OF HEAVEN AT A STARSTRUCK RESORT
...horizon. Star Hill Inn exists...closer to the stars. In a clearing...stocked with star maps, cookies...like me, live near city...folk that Star Hill Inn was...erased the stars with automobile...surround the ... |
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Take a summer stroll in the night-sky neighborhood.(Features)(Ideas)
...of the entire Milky Way, our "little" home in space, and...years back. We live in a medium...colossal cosmic pinwheel. It stretches...newly formed stars. If the Milky...luminous river of ... |
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High Schooler Behind Telescope Web
...observe the way professional...conspiring about ways to get more...the summer milky way _ and more stars than you've...Wherever they live, young astronomers...network, view a star chart, type...M33, the ... |
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Hubble Finds Quasars Feeding in an Unexpected Variety of Cosmic Habitats
...galaxies and pinwheels, some peaceful...that even the Milky Way galaxy -- Earth's home -- could once...dim, ordinary stars, but later...most quasars live at the center...hundred billion stars each. ... |
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