August 2036 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse will take place on August 7, 2036. The moon will pass through the center of the Earth's shadow. This is the last central lunar eclipse of Saros cycle 129.
Eclipse season.
This is the second eclipse this season.
First eclipse this season: Partial solar eclipse of July 23, 2036
Third eclipse this season: Partial solar eclipse of August 21, 2036
Visibility.
It will be completely visible over South America, seen as rising over North America, and setting over Africa and Europe.
Related lunar eclipses.
Saros series.
It last occurred on July 27, 2018 and will next occur on August 18, 2054.
This is the 39th member of Lunar Saros 129. The previous event was the July 2018 lunar eclipse. The next event is the August 2054 lunar eclipse. Lunar Saros 129 contains 11 total lunar eclipses between 1910 and 2090. Solar Saros 136 interleaves with this lunar saros with an event occurring every 9 years 5 days alternating between each saros series.
Half-Saros cycle.
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros). This lunar eclipse is related to two total solar eclipses of Solar Saros 136.


Jupiter in fiction

The planet Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, is a popular backdrop for science fiction stories and films. Early works of science fiction used Jupiter itself as a location for stories, but modern science has shown that the planet has no solid surface one could land on and that its atmosphere, temperature, high gravity and intense radiation is hostile to human life. As a result, the Jovian system as a whole, including both the space around Jupiter and its very extensive system of moons, is a more common setting for science fiction.


Priscilla Fairfield Bok

Priscilla Fairfield Bok (April 14, 1896 – November 1975) was an American astronomer and the wife of Dutch-born astronomer Bart Bok, Director of Mount Stromlo Observatory in Australia and later of Steward Observatory in Arizona, US. Their harmonious marriage accompanied the four decades of their close scientific collaboration, in which "it is difficult and pointless to separate his achievements from hers". They co-authored a number of academic papers on star clusters, stellar magnitudes, and the structure of the Milky Way galaxy. The Boks displayed great mutual enthusiasm for explaining astronomy to the public: described as "salesmen of the Milky Way" by "The Boston Globe", their general interest book "The Milky Way" went through five editions and was said to be "one of the most successful astronomical texts ever written".
Early life and research.
Fairfield's family lived in Littleton, Massachusetts, where her father was a Unitarian minister. She worked to be able to afford the tuition fees at nearby Boston University. On weekends, she would bribe the watchman to allow her access to the University's solar telescope on the roof (a telescope later named in her honour). She published an article on sunspot observations in Popular Astronomy in 1916. Fairfield undertook her graduate studies with W. W. Campbell of Lick Observatory, and after graduating from UC Berkeley in 1921, was rejected from a job at the General Electric Company on declaring that she eventually wanted to be an astronomer. She rejected two West Coast offers in favour of Smith College Observatory in Massachusetts. There she began working on RR Lyrae variable stars on weekends with Harlow Shapley and Bertil Lindblad at the Harvard College Observatory.
Fairfield was an assistant professor in astronomy when she attended the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Third General Assembly in Leiden in the Netherlands in 1928. Her assigned reception committee astronomer was a young graduate student, Bart Bok, ten years her junior; he proposed to her at the end of the conference. They corresponded for the next year, as Fairfield did not wish to rush into marriage.
Within fourteen months, Bok had broken off his thesis studies at Groningen with Piet van Rhijn and moved across the Atlantic to Harvard on the invitation of Shapley, its Director. They were married on September 9, 1929, within three days of Bok's arrival in the US, at her brother's house in New York state. Shapley was initially dubious of Bok, and protective of his protégée Priscilla.
Harvard.
They remained at Harvard for the next twenty-five years. Bart Bok was steadily promoted through the academic ranks at Harvard. Priscilla continued her research and writing, but was unpaid, a situation supported by Shapley, whom Bart described as "rather cheap when it came to hiring people". The Boks had two children, a son, John, in 1930 and a daughter, Joyce, in 1933. Priscilla was the at-home parent until their children finished high school, and published less research herself in this period, though the Boks' public outreach often took place together.
Their marriage began a close scientific collaboration that would span the next four decades, in which "it is difficult and pointless to separate his achievements from hers". They co-authored a number of academic papers on star clusters, stellar magnitudes, and the structure of the Milky Way. Their enthusiasm for explaining astronomy to the public led to them being well known: they were described as "salesmen of the Milky Way" by "The Boston Globe" in 1936.
Their main work together was a definitive undergraduate textbook and popular science book, "The Milky Way", described as "one of the most successful astronomical texts ever written", which had five editions following its initial publication in 1941, and was translated into many languages. The writing of this book, begun in 1937, was shared equally according to Bart:
Australia.
In 1957, the Boks left for Australia, where Bart took up the position of Director at Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra. In their nine years in Australia, Bart established a graduate program at Stromlo, obtained funds from the Prime Minister of the time, Robert Menzies, for a new telescope at Stromlo, established a field observatory at Siding Spring, and laid the foundations for the creation of the Anglo-Australian Telescope. This did not leave much time for astronomy research; Priscilla spent many nights at the Stromlo telescopes observing and then analysing their data. This suited her greater interest in basic observations such as determining stellar positions and providing calibrated magnitudes.
Their close and openly loving relationship supported their scientific efforts: the pair were often seen walking on Mount Stromlo hand in hand, deep in conversation. Priscilla's quiet and empathetic personality complemented and tempered Bart's energetic and effervescent dynamism.
In the subsequent editions of their book, the Boks had to make major changes to accommodate the rapid progress in galactic astronomy. The approachability of the text for the general public was particularly important to Priscilla, according to Bart:
Return to the US.
In 1966, the Boks moved back to the US for Bart to take up the Directorship of Steward Observatory in Arizona, which he held until 1970. Priscilla suffered a stroke in 1972; her health declined in the following years, and Bok resigned his position as vice-president of the IAU in 1974 and dedicated himself to her care. She died of a heart attack in November 1975.
Recognition.
Bok is commemorated by the asteroid (2137) Priscilla, named following her death. The Boks are jointly commemorated for their scientific contributions by a 43-km diameter crater on the far side of the Moon and by an asteroid discovered by Elizabeth Roemer in 1975, (1983) Bok.
Two Priscilla and Bart Bok Awards are jointly awarded each year by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the American Astronomical Society to astronomy-related projects at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, in recognition of the Boks' advocacy for astronomy education and work in public outreach.
The Australian National University awards the "Priscilla Fairfield Bok Prize" to a female third-year science student each year.


Arthur Irvin

Arthur John Edward Irvin (10 March 1848 – 22 July 1945) was an English first-class cricketer and clergyman.
The son of The Reverend Joseph Irvin, he was born in March 1848 at Hackness, Yorkshire. He was educated at Rossall School, before going up to Pembroke College, Oxford. While studying at Oxford, he made two appearances in first-class cricket as a wicket-keeper for Oxford University against Southgate in 1868, and the Gentlemen of England in 1871.
After graduating from Oxford, he took holy orders in the Church of England in 1874. His first ecclesiastical post was as curate of Rothwell, which he held until 1877, before becoming the vicar of Woodlesford in 1877. He served on the Hunslet Rural District council in 1895, in addition to being closely associated with the establishment of a new workhouse at Woodlesford, which would later become St. George's Hospital. Irvin retired to Oxford, before settling at Old Basing, Hampshire. He died there in July 1945, at the age of 97.


Lithium depletion boundary

The lithium depletion boundary (LDB) technique is a method proposed for dating open clusters based on a determination of the lithium abundances of a cluster's stars whose masses are at about the hydrogen burning mass limit.


Eyes on the Solar System


Foggy Bottom Observatory

Foggy Bottom Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Colgate University. Its IAU code is 776. Built in 1951, it is located in Hamilton, New York (USA).


May 2004 lunar eclipse

A total lunar eclipse took place on May 4, 2004, the first of two total lunar eclipses in 2004, the second being on October 28, 2004.
Visibility.
It was visible throughout most of Europe and Asia, eastern Africa, Indian Ocean and western South America including the Pacific Ocean. The eclipse seen in eastern Asia before sunrise and western South America after sunset. The eclipse was seen over and the Philippines at dawn. Mid Eclipse was visible during moonset in Eastern Australia.
Related lunar eclipses.
Lunar year series.
It is the third of four lunar year cycles, repeating every 354 days.
Half-Saros cycle.
A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros). This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 138.


Smith Observatory and Dr. William R. Brooks House

Smith Observatory and Dr. William R. Brooks House is a historic home and observatory located at Geneva in Ontario County, New York. Both structures were built in 1888. The observatory is a small frame building consisting of a two-story tower flanked by two small wings. The tower contains a 10-inch refracting telescope by Warner & Swasey of Cleveland, Ohio. The east wing contains an intact meridian transit telescope and sidereal pendulum clock. The house is a two-story brick dwelling with a broad range of intact, late Victorian eclectic features.
Brooks was a Professor of Astronomy at Hobart College, which owned the observatory until the late 20th century.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.


Barry G. Clark

Barry Gillespie Clark (born March 5, 1938) is an American astronomer who led the development of the world's first digitally recorded, software correlated Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) system for radio astronomy, the Green Bank Interferometer. He was also heavily involved in the development of the Very Large Array and the Very Long Baseline Array.
Clark earned a BS in 1959 and a PhD in 1964, both from Caltech. His entire working life has been spent at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, New Mexico, where he has worked from 1964-2004, and then from 2004 as Emeritus Scientist (until at least as late as October 2013).
Kenneth Kellermann and Marshall Cohen (fellow NRAO scientists) in a 1988 paper, "The origin and evolution of the N.R.A.O.-Cornell VLBI system" discuss much of the work at NRAO on the development of VLBI systems, going from baselines of 200 km to intercontinental baselines, and involving several international collaborations including a collaboration with the USSR.
He is a fellow of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).


Annapurni Subramaniam

Annapurni Subramaniam is the director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore and works on areas like star clusters, stellar evolution and population in galaxies and Magellanic clouds.
Education.
Dr. Subramaniam finished her schooling from Victoria College, Palakkad, in science. She did her PhD on the topic "Studies of star clusters and stellar evolution" from Indian Institute of Astrophysics in 1996.
Career.
Dr. Subramaniam was a Research Fellow at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics from 1990–96. She then became a Post Doctoral Fellow in 1998 at the institute and currently works as a professor and director of institute. She is an active member of the International Astronomical Union.
Field of research.
Dr. Subramaniam's major field of research includes:
Her list of publications can be found on the Astronomy Database
Current projects.
At Indian Institute of Astrophysics, her current projects include:


Richard Davis (astronomer)

Richard John Davis, OBE, FRAS (28 June 1949 – 2 May 2016) was a radio astronomer for the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester.
Personal life.
Davis was born in March, Cambridgeshire, England, the first child of Hugh Davis, a railway man, and Thelma Carter. He had a brother, architect Christopher Davis, and Richard had two sons, William and Anthony. After falling ill in Italy, he died on 2 May 2016, aged 66, at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. He was survived by his mother. His funeral took place at St Paul's Church, Macclesfield, on 25 May 2016.
Education.
Davis attended March Grammar School for boys in 1960–67. He won a scholarship to attend Downing College at the University of Cambridge in 1968, where he studied the natural sciences, focusing on theoretical physics, for his undergraduate degree. He started an MSc in radio astronomy at Jodrell Bank in 1971, graduating with a diploma in 1972, followed by a PhD, also at Jodrell Bank, on the radio polarisation of quasars, graduating in 1975.
Career.
Following from his PhD, he became an academic staff member at Jodrell in 1978, and over the course of 45 years he was involved in teaching, research, technical development at Jodrell Bank. Undergraduate teaching across physics and astrophysics, as well as supervising postgraduate students.
In 2011 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to science.
He was a member of the Royal Astronomical Society Council in 2012–2015.
Research.
Davis designed electronics to use the radio-linked Mark II and Mark III telescopes as Jodrell Bank's first phase-stable radio interforemeter, over a distance of . This was used to measure radio source positions to an accuracy of 100 milliarcseconds; it also enabled longer observation times on sources than before, which led to the measurement of radio emission from Cygnus A's parent galaxy.
In the late 1970s he worked on radio links for MERLIN. At the same time he worked with Bernard Lovell and Ralph Spencer on observations of red dwarf flare stars using the Lovell Telescope (then the Mark I) and the Defford telescope as an interferometer, which led to an unambiguous detection of YZ Canis Minoris at radio frequencies. He developed a 5 GHz broadband interferometer using the Lovell and Mark II telescopes, with his then-student Steve Padin, detecting radio emission from symbiotic stars and novae. He studied 3C 273 in the 1980s and 1990s.
Davis was Project Scientist for MERLIN, the telescope at Cambridge, and the upgrades of the Lovell Telescope.
Davis studied the cosmic microwave background with the Very Small Array and the Planck satellite. He was the UK PI of Planck's Low Frequency Instrument, leading the development and construction of the 30 and 44 GHz low-noise amplifiers, as well as leading the UK post-launch support for the instrument. He spent over 15 years working on the Planck satellite.
He authored over 150 scientific publications.


C/2008 T2 (Cardinal)

C/2008 T2 (Cardinal), is a non-periodic comet. It was discovered by Rob. D. Cardinal from the University of Calgary. It was visible as a telescopic and binocular object during 2009. It passed near the Perseus star clusters NGC 1528 on March 15 and NGC 1545 on March 17, 2009. It also passed near the Auriga star clusters M38 on April 14, M36 on April 17, and M37 in on April 21, 2009, and passed near Comet Lulin on May 12, 2009, for observers on Earth. It peaked in brightness in June–July 2009 at 8.5-9m.


David Tegfan Davies

David Tegfan Davies (27 February 1883 – 10 August 1968) was a Welsh Congregational minister. He was raised by his grandparents, Dafydd and Hannah Dafis of Abergwili, Carmarthenshire. On completing his education at the local school, he entered employment as a farm labourer at a farm in Rhyd-y-Rhaw, Peniel. Whilst there he began to attend services at Peniel Congregational Church, and it was there, in 1903, that he began to preach. Following a period studying at the Old College School in Carmarthen, he moved, in 1905, to attend classes at Bala-Bangor College. He was ordained minister in September 1908 at Seion, Pontypridd, and from there moved to Addoldy, Glynneath, where he was inducted in January 1911.
In 1915, during WW1, he relocated again to become minister of Gellimanwydd (Christian Temple), Ammanford, where he would remain for the next 50 years. During the severe Post WWI economic depression and the Great Slump that began in 1929, poverty and unemployment in Ammenford was so extreme that childhood malnutrition and lack of clothing except for remnant coal sacks became commonplace; Davies became chairman of the local 'Distress Committee' and was able to "twin" the town with a parish in Merseyside, Liverpool, that provided sufficient funds to prevent actual starvation. An unusually high proportion of young people from Ammanford went on to academic research careers, a fact that several of them later credited to Davies' influence.
He was much travelled, venturing around much of Europe on cargo ships from Swansea, and to the United States on a preaching tour. He was in the United States in July 1924.
His writings include, "Cyn Dringo'r Mynydd Du", "O Ganol Shir Gâr", and "Rhamantwr y De and Cyffro'r Hen Goffrau", which telling of old Carmarthenshire beliefs and rural amusements, reveal his vivid imagination.
In 1965 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in acknowledgement of his humanitarian acts and for his bravery on many occasions in rescuing persons in danger of drowning. He was credited with twelve life-saving rescues. Davies was also a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
He died in 1968, and was buried in Gellimanwydd cemetery.


Fasti

In ancient Rome, the fasti (Latin plural) were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events. After Rome's decline, the word "fasti" continued to be used for similar records in Christian Europe and later Western culture.
Public business, including the official business of the Roman state, had to be transacted on "dies fasti", "allowed days". The "fasti" were the records of this business. In addition to the word's general sense, there were "fasti" that recorded specific kinds of events, such as the "fasti triumphales", lists of triumphs celebrated by Roman generals. The divisions of time used in the "fasti" were based on the Roman calendar.
The yearly records of the "fasti" encouraged the writing of history in the form of chronological "annales", "annals," which in turn influenced the development of Roman historiography.
Etymology.
"Fasti" is the plural of the Latin adjective "fastus", most commonly used as a substantive. The word derives from "fas", meaning "that which is permitted," that is, "that which is legitimate in the eyes of the gods." "Fasti dies" were the days on which business might be transacted without impiety, in contrast to "dies nefasti", days on which assemblies and courts could not convene. The word "fasti" itself came to denote lists organized by time. The temporal structure distinguished "fasti" from "regesta", which were simple lists of property, or assets, such as land or documents, or transactions transferring property.
Roman official chronicles.
"Fasti Magistrales", "Annales" or "Historici", were concerned with the several festivals, and everything relating to religious practice and the gods, and the magistrates; to the emperors, their birthdays, offices, days consecrated to them, with feasts and ceremonies established in their honor or for their prosperity. They came to be denominated "magni", "great," by way of distinction from the bare calendar, or "fasti diurni" ("everyday records"). The word "fasti" thus came to be used in the general sense of annals or historical records.
"Fasti consulares".
"Fasti consulares" were official chronicles in which years were denoted by the respective consuls and other magistrates, often with the principal events that happened during their consulates, but sometimes not. An example is the "fasti Capitolini", a modern name assigned because they were deposited in 1547 in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitoline Hill on order of Alessandro Farnese, who kept them temporarily in his villa after their excavation from the Roman forum in 1545 or 1546 (funded by Farnese). Michelangelo, who designed the complex of three palaces on the hill, also restored the tables of the fasti. The Palazzo today is one of the Capitoline Museums, which serve a double duty as museums and city government buildings. The fasti are located in the Sala della Lupa, the same room as the bronze wolf. More pieces discovered after the Renaissance were placed with it.
Discovery.
The "fasti consulares" were discovered as 30 marble fragments in the forum. With them were 26 fragments of "Acta Triumpharum", since called the "fasti triumphales". Both lists were restored as distinct records. The restoration was based nearly entirely on the observations of Onofrio Panvinio and Pirro Ligorio, who were standing at the top of the trench in which a portion of wall was showing, featuring inscriptional material between pilasters. They conferred with Michelangelo. Pope Paul III had authorized the mining of stone for St. Peter's in 1540 and Michelangelo was in fact protestingly working on its design also. The pope was following the widespread convention that prevailed in the Renaissance of ripping up the structures of the past to reuse in building structures they considered even more magnificent. The scholars were collaborating to save what they could.
A resident colony of quarrymen did not pause in the slightest but went on dismantling buildings. All trace of structures in that part of the forum vanished between August 15 and September 14, 1546. The stone was sold to cutters for reuse or to lime burners for the creation of cement. None of these proceedings were in any way archaeological. Cardinal Farnese assigned the scholars to watch the diggings. Collecting a team they moved swiftly to rescue what they could, sinking tunnels to the side to search for fragments. Subsequently, more fragments turned up embedded in buildings then in use, showing that the area had been less intensely mined previously, and casting doubt of the location of the original source of the fragments.
It has been estimated that the consular lists were in four entablatures several feet high: I covering AUC 1-364; II, 365-461; III, 462-600; IV, 601-745, running to 766 in the margin. They were not published, however, as two lists; instead, Marliani in 1549 (first publication, Rome), Sigonius in 1550 (Modena), Robortelli in 1555 (Venice) and others chose to combine the information into a unified list, which was carried forward under the name "fasti capitolini". The editors took certain freedoms, such as filling in missing magistrates from other records as they thought best and filling in missing dates AUC to give the appearance of a continuous yearly chronicle, at the same time concealing the problems. Typically representations under the name "capitolini" are not that. There were in fact two different original lists placed under that name to which were added fragments found in 1816-1818, 1872–1878 and a final one from the Tiber river in 1888, unrestored. All the fragments became CIL I under "Fragmenta Quae Dicuntur Capitolini", "Fragments Called Capitolini" and "Cetera Quae Supersunt Fragmenta", "Other Remaining Fragments."
Content.
The unified list states the magistrates for each AUC from the first year of the first king to the death of Augustus. The marble entablatures were erected at the order of Augustus, based on information available to the Romans then, although the nature and validity of this information remains unknown. The degree of detail suggests that they were based on previous republican chronicles. The identification of their ancient location is controversial. The two theories are that they were in or part of the "regia", or palace, of the College of Pontiffs, or that they were on a commemorative arch Augustus had constructed.
The fasti state a list of kings followed by the republican consuls for each year, with the "magistri equitum" and the "tribuni militares" for years in which these magistrates were eponymous instead of consuls; that is, once the practice of naming the year after the heads of state began, there had to be a head of state whether king, dictator, consul, master or tribune, regardless of what body held the power. The list features multiple dating schemes. To the right are years from the beginning of the republic preceded by an. or ann. for "anno", "in the year." To the left every ten years is a numeral stating the AUC year starting with CCXC (the editors typically fill out these schemes; the list is seldom quoted as it is). The length of reign is given for the kings (the sum does not match the first republican AUC). In addition 5-year lustrations ("purgation", a ceremony cleaning the city of sin) and the censors conducting them are stated, which list is sometimes called the fasti censorii by moderns and stated as a third fasti capitolini.
Feeney argues that the multiple scheme is evidence that the fasti were Augustan rather than republican. The kings are given precedence at the top and the AUC at the left as though they were superimposed on a formerly republican fasti. Moreover, the 5-year "lustra" date to 28 BC when the temple of Mars Ultor ("Mars the Avenger"), the imperial god, was constructed and took precedence over the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline. After that time the emperor must be one of the censors, who now presided over banging in the yearly nail at Mars Ultor instead of Jupiter (the setting of this nail marked the transition of the year).
Dating.
The republican dates given to the right are those of the Varronian chronology; that is, those calculated by the scholar, Marcus Terentius Varro. His republic begins in the year 510/509 BC by modern calculation. These were the official imperial dates. Many other dates and chronologies existed, notably those of Livy, with which the emperor must have been familiar, but he did not forbid their use in unofficial contexts. The AUC chronology does not exactly correspond; it is later than the Varronian by a year. Censorinus, who went over Varro's calculations, he says, explains that Ulpius and Pontianus were consuls in the 1014th year from the re-founding of the Olympic games (776 BC); that is, Olympiad 254.2 (second year of the 254th Olympiad) and that this year was AUC 991, starting by modern calculations January 1, 238 AD. Varro's AUC 1 therefore was 754/753 BC. The further identifications of Ulpius and Pontianus remain a mystery, as they are only named by Censorinus, but the names are irrelevant to the argument. The republic began in Varro's view in .
Solinus observed that Gaius Pompeius Gallus and Quintus Verranius were consuls in Olympiad 207.1, and that this year was 801 AUC, counting from the foundation of Rome at Olympiad 7.1. By modern calculation this is 49 AD. He was relying on the official dating scheme, which must have been the "fasti consulares". In Varro's chronology this is AUC 802. Simple subtraction shows that AUC 1 in Augustus' fasti is 753/752 BC. The fasti give to the start of the republic a date of , but some editors "correct" all the AUC to Varronian. Similarly the fasti run to the death of Augustus in 13 AD (14 in the Varronian). This is not a difference in the starting date of the republic or the year of Augustus' death, which remain in the same years relative to surrounding events in either case; instead, the year of AUC 1 differs.
"Fasti triumphales".
The "Fasti Triumphales" contained a list in chronological order of persons who had obtained a triumph, together with the name of the conquered people. Fragments of such a list were found mixed in with the fragments of the "fasti capitolini", were also restored by Michelangelo and are in the same room at the Palazzo dei Conservatori. The "acta triumphorum" were on four panels, I covering AUC 1-452; II, 453-532; III, 533-625 and IV, 628-735, ending in 19 BC. The triumphs begin with those of Romulus.
The fragmentary "Fasti Triumphales" were unearthed together with the "Fasti Capitolini", and partially restored. Renaissance antiquarian Onofrio Panvinio's"De fasti et triumphi Romanorum a Romulo usque ad Carolum V", Giacomo Strada, Venice, 1557, continued where the ancient "Fasti" left off. The last triumph recorded by Panvinio, which he described as a Roman triumph "over the infidel," was the Royal Entry of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V into Rome on April 5, 1536, which took place while Charles was marching northward after his conquest of Tunis in 1535.
"Fasti Potentini".
The "Fasti Potentini" is a list of consuls from Potentia in Lucania, and probably dating to the early second century. The "Potentini" gives a partial record of the consuls from AD 86 to 93, and from 112 to 116.
Priestly "fasti".
The "Annales Pontificum" or "Annales maximi", "Annals of the Priests," were annually exhibited in public on a white table, on which the memorable events of the year, with special mention of the prodigies, were set down in abbreviated manner. Other "fasti sacerdotales" ("priestly "fasti"") include the "fasti augurales" of the augurs.
Extant fasti.
A considerable number of fasti have been discovered. The Praenestine calendar ("Fasti praenestini"), discovered in 1770, arranged by the famous grammarian Verrius Flaccus, contains the months of January, March, April, and December, and a portion of February. The tablets give an account of festivals, and also of the triumphs of Augustus and Tiberius. There are still two complete calendars in existence, an official list by Philocalus (354), and a Christian version of the official calendar, made by Polemius Silvius (448).
Modern fasti.
In modern times the word "fasti" and its reflexes in modern languages have been used formally for quasi-official writings of a diachronic character. Some examples are the official history and traditions of a regiment, in Scotland the "Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae: the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation", the first volume of which was produced in 1915 and which is still updated at irregular intervals. Between 1946 and 1987 the International Association for Classical Archaeology (AIAC) published the "Fasti Archaeologici". It contained summary notices of excavations through the area of the Roman Empire.The Fasti went online and discontinued paper publication in 2000: the "Fasti Online" now contains reports on excavations since the year 2000 in 13 countries, particularly Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Malta and Albania. It is accompanied by an online journal, "Fasti Online Documents & Research", which publishes full and interim reports on archaeological sites in Italy. See under "External links" below.
In popular culture.
The HBO television series "Rome" features a pontiff calling out the fasti in the Forum at the beginning of each episode.


Astrophysics Research Institute

The Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI) is an astronomy and astrophysics research institute in Merseyside, UK. Formed in 1992, it stood on the Twelve Quays site in Birkenhead from 1998 until in June 2013 when it relocated to the Liverpool Science Park in Liverpool. It is in the top 1% of institutions in the field of space science as measured by total citations.
There are currently over 90 staff members and research students working at the institute, which lies within the administration of the Liverpool John Moores University's Faculty of Engineering and Technology.
Research.
Conducted research varies into many areas of astronomy and astrophysics, such as supernovae, star formation and galaxy clusters. Research is funded by external organisations, such as the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The institute maintains the Liverpool Telescope which is located on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands.
Education.
The institute currently teaches two undergraduate courses: a 3-year BSc (Hons) in Physics and Astronomy, as well as a 4-year MPhys (Hons) in Astrophysics. Both the undergraduate courses are taught as a joint degree by the Astrophysics Research Institute of Liverpool John Moores University and the Department of Physics at the University of Liverpool. The courses are accredited by the Institute of Physics.
Postgraduate courses are made available at PhD and Master's level, with two MSc courses taught via distance learning.
Unaccredited short courses are also made available to those who do not have a scientific or mathematical background. The Astronomy by Distance Learning courses are taught by CD-ROM, DVD and website material without the need for classroom sessions. Each of the courses provides an introduction into astronomy as well as specialist areas such as supernovae.
Awards.
In 2006, the institute received the ""Queen's Anniversary Prize" for higher education in recognition for its development of the robotic telescope. In 2007 the "Times Higher Education Supplement Award"" for 'project of the year' was given for the use of RINGO optical polarimeter at the Liverpool Telescope in measuring gamma-ray bursts. RINGO has since been decommissioned and an updated polarimeter named RINGO2 is since in operation.


T. H. E. C. Espin

The Reverend Thomas Henry Espinell Compton Espin or T. H. E. C. Espin (28 May 1858 – 2 December 1934) was a British astronomer. His father Thomas Espin was Chancellor of the Diocese of Chester and his mother was Elizabeth (née Jessop).
He became interested in astronomy by the appearance of "Coggia's Comet" (C/1874 H1), which he saw while attending Haileybury School. Espin then went to Exeter College, Oxford from 1878 to 1881. He was ordained the following year.
He was an avid amateur astronomer and skilled observer. In 1876, and while only eighteen years of age, he made the acquaintance of the aged Rev. Thomas William Webb (1807-1885) and assisted with an updated edition of his book "Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes"; after Webb's death in 1885 he published an expanded 5th (1893) and 6th (1917) editions of it. Also in 1885 Espin was appointed Curate of Wolsingham and he established an astronomical observatory there. In 1888 he transferred to Tow Law, where he served until he died, and brought the observatory with him. The observatory housed a 17¼ inch (438mm) aperture reflecting telescope, which was later supplemented by a 24 inch (620mm) aperture reflecting telescope. Espin discovered many nebulae, variable stars, and more than 2500 double stars. He made many observations of the spectra of stars, and in particular he also did extensive searches for red stars (especially in his early career) and published a catalogue of them.
He became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society on 11 January 1878. From 1912 he was assisted in astronomical observing by William Milburn (1896-1982), the grandson of a family friend. Espin was awarded the Jackson-Gwilt Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1913.
He discovered a nova in the constellation Lacerta in December 1910, this object was later known as DI Lacertae.
His other amateur scientific interests included botany, geology and the study of X rays; his study of fossils caused him to disbelieve Darwin's theory of evolution.
He also served as a county magistrate for 35 years beginning in 1891 and was Chairman of Stanhope and Wolsingham Sessions. He never married.
The crater Espin on the Moon is named after him.


Rebecca Oppenheimer

Rebecca Oppenheimer is an American astrophysicist and one of three curators in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Oppenheimer is a comparative exoplanetary scientist. She investigates planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. Her optics laboratory is the birthplace of a number of new astronomical instruments designed to tackle the problem of directly seeing and taking spectra of nearby solar systems with the ultimate goal of finding life outside the solar system.
Early life and education.
Oppenheimer attended the Horace Mann School in the Bronx. After graduating in 1990, she attended Columbia University, where she was an I. I. Rabi Science Scholar. She received a BSc in Physics from Columbia in 1994. In 1999 she was granted a Ph.D. in astrophysics from the California Institute of Technology and spent the following two years at the University of California at Berkeley on a Hubble Space Telescope Postdoctoral Research Fellowship.
Career.
Oppenheimer holds an adjunct professorship at Columbia University's Department of Astronomy and has published over one hundred research and public-oriented science articles. She is co-discoverer of the first brown dwarf, Gliese 229B, and is active in research on exoplanets, white dwarfs, adaptive optics and coronagraphy. Oppenheimer serves on NASA, NSF and NRC committees. She is the principal investigator for Project 1640, an exoplanet imaging project.
In 2001, she moved back to New York City to conduct research at the American Museum of Natural History, where she joined the faculty in 2004. Oppenheimer regularly gives public and professional lectures on astronomical research.
She is an active member of the International Astronomical Union. She is a member of the A,B,C,D,F, and G affiliations within the IAU.
Personal life.
Oppenheimer is a trans woman and was featured in a "New York Times" piece where she wrote about being transgender and a scientist.


Solar eclipse of February 27, 2036

A partial solar eclipse will occur on Wednesday, February 27, 2036. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A partial solar eclipse occurs in the polar regions of the Earth when the center of the Moon's shadow misses the Earth.
Images.
Animated path


List of ancient Roman fasti

Ancient Roman "fasti" were calendars "(fasti)" that recorded religious observances and officially commemorated events. They were typically displayed in the form of an inscription at a prominent public location such as a major temple; several of these "fasti" survive, but in states of varying fragmentation. Some calendars are preserved as papyri or manuscripts.
One of the original purposes of Roman calendars was to mark the religious and legal status of each day, by means of letters such as "C, F," and "NP". By the late 2nd century AD, extant calendars no longer show days marked with these letters, probably in part as a result of calendar reforms undertaken by Marcus Aurelius. A "feriale" is a listing only of dates for religious or official observances, not a day-by-day accounting of time. The words "fasti" and "feriale" are not always distinct in usage, and both "fasti" and "ferialia" are listed below.
Extant "fasti" include those known by the following names:


Hugh Newall

Hugh Frank Newall, FRS FRAS (21 June 1857 – 22 February 1944) was a British astrophysicist. He was Professor of Astrophysics (1909) at Cambridge. He was the son of Robert Stirling Newall FRS and his wife Mary, daughter of Hugh Lee Pattinson, FRS.
Newall took the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Tripos from Trinity College, Cambridge, and was elected Fellow in 1909. His father was an astronomer, and the Newall Telescope, a 25-inch refractor, built at Gateshead, was in its time the largest in existence. As things turned out, the telescope would dominate the son's life. Newall took up school mastering at Wellington after graduating. He returned to Cambridge when J.J. Thomson, the Nobel prizewinning physicist, asked him to be his assistant. After a period as demonstrator in experimental physics at the Cavendish Laboratory he turned to astronomy. This came about because in 1889 the university was offered Newall senior's telescope, but claimed to lack the funds to receive it and use it. Newall (junior) thereupon paid the removal expenses and then served as observer, and, from 1909 to 1928, as first holder of the chair of astrophysics, without a stipend. The telescope was installed beside the 1810 telescope at the Observatory on Madingley Road, and Newall built a home at Madingley Rise which became for half a century a resort of visiting astronomers.
He served as President of the Royal Astronomical Society for a customary two-year term, 1907–1909.
In 1913 he became the first director of the Solar Physics Observatory. Though elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in June 1902 for work on the spectrum of Capella, Newall was more a facilitator than a creative scientist. He led many eclipse expeditions. He married twice, first to Margaret (a pianist) the granddaughter of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and second, Dame Bertha Surtees Phillpotts, Scandinavian Scholar, formerly Mistress of Girton College, and the only woman member of the Royal Commission on Cambridge (1923-7), who is buried in Tunbridge Wells.
He is buried in the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge.


Angeline Stickney

Chloe Angeline Stickney Hall (November 1, 1830 – July 3, 1892) was an American academic, suffragist, and mathematician. She was a teacher and later the wife of astronomer Asaph Hall. She did not use her first name and so was known as Angeline Stickney Hall. Stickney, the largest crater on Phobos, is named after her in recognition of her support for the satellite's discovery.
Life.
Angeline Stickney was born to Theophilus Stickney and Electa Cook on November 1, 1830. In 1847 she took three terms of study funded by her cousin, Harriette Downs, at Rodman Union Seminary. Stickney was able to attend New-York Central College with help from her sister Ruth and by teaching at the college. She majored in science and mathematics, doing coursework in calculus and mathematical astronomy, and graduated with the college's first class, in 1855. New-York Central College was a progressive school where students of modest means, including women and free African Americans, could earn a college degree. It was here that she became passionate about the causes of women's suffrage and the abolition of slavery.
Angeline Stickney and Asaph Hall met at Central College. Stickney was two years ahead of Hall. She was his instructor in geometry and German. During their days together as teacher and student, Hall and his classmates would devise questions and problems that they were convinced Stickney could not solve, yet she never failed to solve them.
Stickney and Hall married in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, on March 31, 1856. As was common at the time, she had to give up her academic career after the wedding. Immediately after the wedding, the couple moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, so that Hall could continue his education at the University of Michigan. Three months later, they moved to Shalersville, Ohio. It was Stickney who communicated with her husband's employer, Captain Gillis, and successfully suggested that he should be made a professor at the Naval Observatory.
She encouraged him to continue his search for satellites of Mars when he was ready to give up, and he successfully discovered the moons Phobos and Deimos. However, when she asked for payment equal to a man's salary for her calculations, Asaph refused, so Angeline then discontinued her work.
The largest crater on Phobos, Stickney Crater, is named after her.
Hall home-schooled all four of her children, and all attended Harvard University. Her third son, Angelo Hall, a Unitarian minister, wrote her biography. Her oldest son, Asaph Hall, Jr., was born on October 6, 1859, and served as director of the Detroit Observatory from 1892 to 1905. Other sons were named Samuel (second son) and Percival (fourth son); Percival Hall (1872–1953) was the second president of Gallaudet University from 1910 to 1946 (he himself was not deaf).
She died at North Andover, Massachusetts, at age 61.


37P/Forbes

37P/Forbes is a periodic comet in the Solar System. It was discovered on August 1, 1929 by Alexander F. I. Forbes in South Africa.
The comet nucleus is estimated to be 1.9 kilometers in diameter.


Earth Learning Idea

Earth Learning Idea (ELI) provides free Earth-related teaching ideas, designed to be practical science and geography resources for secondary and primary teachers and teacher-trainers and trainees across the world. It is run on a voluntary basis by three teachers from the Earth Science Education Unit (ESEU).
History.
Earth Learning Idea was set up in May 2007, for the International Year of Planet Earth, with the intention of reaching as many children throughout the world as possible, particularly those who suffer from lack of resources and from lack of thought-provoking teaching. The aim is to foster a better knowledge of the natural world and how it works, encouraging the joy of knowledge about the Earth in those who may not otherwise have the opportunity to receive it.
Global educational project.
Earth Learning Ideas enhance learning by being fun to carry out and so enjoyable for pupils and teachers. All ELIs are directed at teachers to encourage maximum pupil participation. One of the main aims is to encourage interactive teaching and the development of thinking and investigational skills in pupils. It is a global effort offering unique teaching resources. All activities are free to download in pdf format and all are accompanied by ´back-up´ notes for teachers.
The activities range widely from ´Rock cycle in wax´, ´Craters on the Moon´ to ´Quakeshake´, an investigation into why some buildings survive in an earthquake and others do not. Other popular activities are ´Trapped! Why can't oil and gas escape from their underground prison?´ and ´How to weigh a dinosaur´. ELIs are popular in schools especially when earthquakes, volcanoes or tsunamis have been in the news. A rich collection of exciting and imaginative activities covering a wide range of Earth-related topics can be found on the website.
Each week an activity is posted on the ELI blog. New activities are published here and comments and suggestions are encouraged. The suggestions are incorporated into ´Extension´ ideas for the activities.
At 10 January 2019, more than 4,000,000 activities in PDF format have been downloaded worldwide.
Translations.
Earth Learning Idea activities are written on a voluntary basis and, with the exception of Norway, they have been translated voluntarily too. The Norwegian team received a small grant. ELI activities are now available in the following languages:-


Nottingham Astronomical Society

The Nottingham Astronomical Society was established in 1946.
History.
There is some evidence for a society for people interested in astronomy in the Nottingham area in the nineteen-twenties.
The society owns a 24" reflecting telescope housed in a dome observatory near Cotgrave, Nottinghamshire.
Since 1980 the society has been twinned with the Karlruhe Astronomical Society (Astronomischen Vereinigung Karlsruhe, AOD) based in Germany.


James Kasting

James Fraser Kasting (born January 2, 1953) is an American geoscientist and Distinguished Professor of Geosciences at Penn State University. Kasting is active in NASA's search for habitable extrasolar planets. He is considered a world leader in the field of planetary habitability, assessing habitable zones around stars. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2018. Kasting also serves on the Advisory Council of METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence).
Education.
Kasting grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, and credits the nearby Marshall Space Flight Center and the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo rockets for inspiring his interests in space and science.
Kasting received an A.B. from Harvard University in 1975. He then went to the University of Michigan, where he worked with Tom Donahue, receiving his M.S. in physics and atmospheric science in 1978, and his Ph.D. in atmospheric science in 1979.
Research.
Kasting worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and at NASA Ames Research Center before accepting a position with the space science division at NASA Ames. He has served NASA in various capacities, includes co-chairing the scientific working group for the Terrestrial Planet Finder. Kasting joined Penn State University in 1988, but continues to collaborate with NASA.
He is interested in atmospheric evolution, planetary atmospheres and paleoclimates. Kasting writes about the geophysical history and status of the Earth, with a focus on atmospherics. He was well known among the geologists for his ground breaking idea on the only long term negative feedback for the atmospheric carbon dioxides: the carbon silica cycle. Together with his PhD student Alex Pavlov, they put a decisive mark on the post-GOE( Great Oxidation Event) oxygen level of greater than 1E-5 Present Atmospheric Level.
According to Kasting's calculations, the Earth's oceans will evaporate in about a billion years, while the Sun is still a main sequence star. This date is much earlier than previously thought. He has also considered the habitability criteria of other stellar systems and planets. A 1993 paper on habitable zones was particularly decisive in shaping thinking on this field.
Kasting has published two books, "The Earth System", and "How to Find a Habitable Planet", along with more than 140 publications in research journals. In their popular 2001 work "Rare Earth:Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe", Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee note: "Although many scientists have been doggedly pursuing the various attributes necessary for a habitable planet...one name stands out in the scientific literature: James Kasting."
Kasting is also a member of numerous professional scientific societies and committees. He was elected Fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Geochemical Society in 2008. He is also a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2004), International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life (2002), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1995). He serves on the advisory board of the Lifeboat Foundation.
Awards.
He won a LExEN Award for his work "Collaborative Research: Methanogenesis and the Climate of Early Mars". He won the Oparin Medal, presented by the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life, in 2008.
Personal life.
He is married with three children.


David Morrison (astrophysicist)

David Morrison (born 26 June 1940) is an American astronomer, a senior scientist at the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Morrison is the former director of the Carl Sagan Center for Study of Life in the Universe at the SETI Institute and of the NASA Lunar Science Institute. He is the past Director of Space at NASA Ames. Morrison is credited as a founder of the multi-disciplinary field of astrobiology. Morrison is best known for his work in risk assessment of near Earth objects such as asteroids and comets. Asteroid 2410 Morrison was named in his honor. Morrison is also known for his "Ask an Astrobiologist" series on NASA's website where he provides answers to questions submitted by the public. He has published 12 books and over 150 papers primarily on planetary science, astrobiology and near earth objects.
Biography.
David Morrison was born in Danville IL on June 26, 1940. He attended elementary and high school in Danville and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1962 with high distinction in physics. He studied astronomy at Harvard University and received his Ph.D in 1969, with Carl Sagan as his thesis advisor.
Astronomical career.
Morrison was Professor of Astronomy at Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii-Manoa from 1969 until 1988. He also directed the 3-meter NASA Infrared Telescope Facility of Mauna Kea Observatory and served for two years as University Vice Chancellor for Research. His research accomplishments include demonstration of the uniform high surface temperature of Venus, the discovery that Neptune has a large internal heat source while its “twin” planet Uranus does not, determination of the surface composition of Pluto, first ground-based measurements of the heat flow from Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, discovery of the fundamental division of the asteroids into dark (primitive) and light (stony) classes, and the first quantitative estimate of the cosmic impact hazard. Morrison was also co-chair of the first NASAAstrobiology Roadmap workshop and report.
He served as a science investigator on Mariner, Voyager and Galileo space science missions. He was on the faculty of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii-Manoa from 1969 until 1988, when he joined the senior management staff of NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. While on the faculty of the University of Hawaii, Morrison spent two sabbaticals at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory of the University of Arizona in Tucson, and two assignments in space science management at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC.
David Morrison has held a variety of senior science management positions at NASA Headquarters in Washington and at Ames Research Center in California. In Washington he was the first Program Scientist for the Galileo mission to Jupiter, where he was responsible for defining the mission objectives and recommending the instruments and science investigations that were selected for this mission. He also served as Deputy Associate Administrator for what is now called the NASA Science Mission Directorate. At NASA Ames, he has been Chief of the Space Science Division, Director Space, and most recently the founding Director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute. His responsibilities included the major NASA missions Lunar Pathfinder, Kepler and SOFIA.
Professional activities.
Morrison is author of leading college undergraduate texts in astronomy and planetary science. He is a popular public writer and lecturer, promoting a scientific and fact-based perspective about such topics as Emmanuel Velikovsky’s pseudocosmology, the evolution-creationist conflict, climate change denialism, and the 2012 doomsday hoax.
As a science communicator, he frequently debunks myths of mystery planets. In interviews in 2011 and 2017, Morrison explained that he receives five emails a day about the Nibiru cataclysm, an apocalyptic hoax, which he initially expected to be a short-lived phenomenon but which "keeps popping up" and is the subject of an estimated two million websites. He launched a YouTube video about the 2012 hoax telling the public that they have nothing to worry about. The video was briefly featured in the opening credits of the movie World War Z', based on the novel "World War Z".
Honors.
Morrison is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of the California Academy of Sciences, and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry; also a supporter (and member of the Advisory Council, since 2013) of the National Center for Science Education. He is also a Scientist Trustee of the California Academy of Science.
He has served as Councilor of the American Astronomical Society, Chair of the Division for Planetary Science of the American Astronomical Society, President of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Chair of the Astronomy Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and both President of Commission 16 (Planets and Satellites) and of the Working Group on Near Earth Objects of the International Astronomical Union.
Morrison received the Dryden Medal for research of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Carl Sagan Medal of the American Astronomical Society for public Communication, and the Klumpke-Roberts Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for his contributions to science education. NASA has also awarded him Outstanding Leadership medals twice as well as the Presidential Meritorious Rank.
In 2015, David Morrison received the American Astronomical Society's (AAS) Education Prize in recognition for his outstanding contributions to the education of the public, students and future astronomers.
Personal.
Morrison is married to Janet Lee Morrison, retired medical information specialist, and lives near San Jose, CA. Morrison has visited and photographed in some 60 countries on all the continents, ranging from the Arctic to the Antarctic, all across North America, Europe, and North Africa, and extensively in South and South-East Asia.


Richmond William Hullett

Richmond William Hullett (15 November 1843 – 1914) was an English 19th century headmaster, explorer and plant collector. He was often associated with Singapore than Hong Kong. His fields of influence include language and education, conservation, exploration and botany in Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Indonesia, and England, and his achievements have inspired Chinese scholars.
Hullett discovered the plant "Bauhinia hullettii" (a synonym for "Bauhinia ferruginea" var. "ferruginea") on Mount Ophir in Malaysia. The "Bauhinia", an orchid-like plant with delicate flowers, became his passion. A variant of "Bauhinia", known as "Bauhinia blakeana", has been adopted by Hong Kong for its national flag. "Bauhinia blakeana" was adopted as the floral emblem of Hong Kong by the Urban Council in 1965. Since 1997 the flower appears on Hong Kong's coat of arm, its flag and its coins. A statue of the flower was presented to the people of Hong Kong by the People's Republic of China and is today to be found in Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong. Although the flowers are bright pinkish purple in colour, they are depicted in white on the flag of Hong Kong. The origins of "Bauhinia blakeana" are not known. The plant itself is a cross of two variants. It is sterile and the trees we see today all over Hong Kong came from one plant discovered in Hong Kong in the 1880s, possibly the result of one of Hullett's many experiments in propagation.
Early years.
Richmond William Hullett was born on 15 November 1843, in the parish of Allstree in Derbyshire, England. He was the third son of The Reverend John Hullett and his wife Cecilia. Hullett had five brothers and one sister. Richmond William Hullett's father was a clergyman in the parish of Allstree. His father was ordained Deacon of Gloucester in 1838. The Rev John Hullett Snr was a renowned scholar and theologian. He was an undergraduate at St John's College Cambridge in 1834. The Rev John Hullett authored a number of books throughout his life as a country parson. Richmond and his brothers and sister lived in the country parsonage in Allestree, Derbyshire.
Education.
Richmond Hullett was sent to Rossall boarding school in Lancashire England. At Rossall he was an exceptional student particularly in mathematics. He won a scholarship to enter Trinity College Cambridge to study maths. He entered Trinity College Cambridge in 1863 and graduated in 1866 as 31st Wrangler, taking a first-class honours degree in the mathematical Tripos.
Employment.
Following his graduation from Cambridge University, Hullett secured a teaching post as assistant master at the prestigious Puritan Felsted School in Essex, England. Felsted was founded in 1564 by the First Baron Riche. Four of Oliver Cromwell's grandsons were pupils here between 1621 and 1674. During Hullett's time here as assistant master under the leadership of Jamaican born headmaster William Stanford Grignon (MA Cantab), Hullett began to show interest in his two lifelong diversified passions; language and botany. Hullett left Felsted Grammar School in 1871 to take up a new senior post as principal of Raffles Institution in Singapore.
Headmaster of Raffles Institution.
Hullett became the longest serving (1871–1906) headmasters of Raffles Institution and the Hullett Memorial Library, the Hullett house in the house system, as well as the Hullett block in the Raffles Institution Boarding Complex, are all named in honour of him.
Straits Philosophical Society.
Hullett was a member of a number of learned societies. He was a member of the Straits Philosophical Society which was 1893 to engage in critical discussions on philosophy, theology, history, literature, science, and art. The society played a developmental role in the intellectual and cultural life of colonial Singapore. Its founding members were Major-General Sir Charles Warren (president), the Rev. G. M. Reith (secretary and treasurer), John Winfield Bonser, Walter Napier, Henry Nicholas Ridley (fellow plant collector and explorer), J. Bromhead Matthews, J. McKillop, D. J. Galloway (Dr), A. Knight, Tan Teck Soon, T. Shelford, G. D. Haviland (Dr), R. N. Bland, and C. W. Kynnersley. The society largely comprised the intellectual elite of the colonial administration. Active membership, which was capped at 15, was opened to Singapore residents only. Priority for admission was given to university graduates, fellows of European learned societies, and people with distinguished merit.
One of the members Tan Teck Soon was an influential Chinese scholar and former pupil of Hullett who contributed to the reformist impulse within the Chinese community in Singapore around the turn of the 20th century. In 1873, at the age of 14, Tan became the first Straits Chinese to win the Guthrie Scholarship for Chinese boys, which enabled him to go to Amoy to continue his Chinese studies. At the Raffles Institution, Tan was one of the first pupils of Hullett. Tan purchased the Daily Advertiser as a vehicle for communicating to the public their ideas about the need for reform within the Chinese community. Tan was editor and proprietor of the paper from 1890 to 1894. In it he tried to keep the local Chinese community abreast of political and cultural developments in China. Tan was involved in running the Singapore Chinese Educational Institute from 1891, the inaugural lecture for which was given by Tan's old school master, Hullett. Another of Hullett's pupils was the respected Lim Boon Keng, OBE a Chinese doctor who promoted social and educational reforms in Singapore and China. Lim Boon Keng studied medicine at Edinburgh University in the UK.
The Linnean Society.
Hullett's passion for plant collecting, recording and discovery of new plant species, led him to him being appointed a Fellow of The Linnean Society (FLS). He remained a member until 1909. The Linnean Society of London is among the oldest of London's Learned Societies and is the world's oldest active organisation devoted exclusively to natural history.
The Straits branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Hullett made many contributions to the Straits branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Hullett's friend and fellow plant collector Henry Nicholas Ridley was also amongst its council members. Apart from enjoying elite patronage, the Society during the colonial period received government grants, donations from the Sultans of the Malay states, Franking privileges, government provision of premises and facilities for printing and map-making.
Hullett's achievements.
Whenever Hullett had the opportunity he would embark on expeditions to collect and record plants throughout the 1880s and 1890s. A number of his significant plant discoveries were found on Mt Ophir (4,186 ft/1,276m) in Malaysia. Although today Mount Ophir is one of the most popular and most climbed mountains, in Hullett's day it was a significant trek and often a dangerous expedition.
Hullett's plants.
Another important plant brought back to China from Mount Ophir by Hullett was a variant of "Impatiens" (Busy Lizzie).
In 1956 in a seeming case of ‘plant envy’ it appears that Hullett was blamed for the inadvertent release to other areas of Southeast Asia "Linaria alpina". The following is an extract taken from the original article which apportions blame to Hullett because of the use of ‘old rough drying paper’ to transport the seedlings
"Another singular case of distribution, too strange to be true, is that of Linaria alpina DC. found on Mt Ophir in Malaya, by HULLETT. The sheet contains one miserable 5 cm long flowering branch which can exactly be matched with European specimens. It is glued on the sheet and Mr VAN DER WERFF did not succeed in finding on a tiny fragment, aerial diatoms which might give a clue. Although the locality was very well known in the field, RIDLEY and nobody else has succeeded in recollect Linaria alpina there. The habitat, a wet place would ecologically be abnormal. Personally I am convinced that this specimen has been erroneously localized, the error in all probability having arisen by the use of old, rough drying paper which had been employed formerly in Europe and was brought along to Malaya and to which this tiny specimen adhered and escaped attention until it was loosened with the Mt Ophir collection of HULLETT"
Citrus Halimii.
One of the most significant cases of lost plants is that of the wild Malaysian citrus tree believed to be 12 million years old (now endangered). "Citrus halimii" (a close relative of the kumquat and pomelo variety of citrus), was collected by William Tatton Egerton on Mount Ophir, 28 December 1902. In a letter to Henry Nicholas Ridley, Egerton writes:
Dear Ridley,
I send to you by Hullett some leaves and fruit of a mountain lemon or citron found growing in primaeval jungle at a height of 2200 feet about 2 miles from the Burkit Tangga Pass to Jelebu. It may well be unknown but I expect to hear that you know it well.
Yours sincerely,
W. Egerton
28/12/02
The Residency,
Seremban
Prior to human cultivation the genus citrus originated in South East Asia and consisted of just a few specimens. The leaves and fruit were brought back by Hullett but they seemed to have been ‘lost’ for over 70 years, nobody knows quite what happened to them. However, when the seedling was ‘rediscovered’ in the Herbarium of the Botanic Gardens Singapore, it was documented, and named in 1973. Erroneous labelling of some specimens may account for the seeming disappearance of some varieties of plants. Important varieties of Hullett’s collection remain to this day in the Herbarium of the Botanic Gardens Singapore. "Citrus halimii", was named after the King of Malaysia His Majesty Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agong of Malaysia.
Hullett and Ridley collected plants on the granite island of Pulau Uban, Singapore. The original vegetation probably consisted of lowland forest and mangrove swamps. Today much of the original vegetation has been cleared. Nearly 600 out of 2,257 native plants are now extinct; deforestation and disturbance have been the main causes of plant species extinction in Singapore. During Hullett's collection on the island he discovered the Canavalis bean, seeds of which are in the Hong Kong Botanical Gardens, they were recorded in 1922 in Stanley and Lantao Island.
"Macaranga hullettii" (The Ant Plant).
"Macaranga", which occurs predominantly in peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, and Sumatra, is the world's largest genus of pioneer trees. It grows in small gaps in forests, along riverbanks, roadsides, and in logged areas. "Macaranga hullettii" tree species known from Maritime Southeast Asia are colonised by specific ants which are required for the successful pollination of this specific "Macaranga tree". Without Hullett's discovery of one of the popular Euphorbia varieties of plants we may not have the distribution in Southeast Asia which we enjoy today, specifically continuation of "M. hullettii" is most important for the colony of tiny ants which require this to survive. Hullett spent a collected plants in Indonesia particularly in Sindang Laya in Java. Here Hullett found a species, "Erechtites valerianifolia", which is known for its medicinal properties and its ability to induce sleep.
The later years and death.
Hullett was the author of a book entitled "English sentences with equivalents in colloquial Malay" published in 1887. Following Hullett's 1906 retirement as principal of the Raffles Institution, he became inspector of schools in the Straits settlement and director of public instruction in Singapore.
Hullett died in Wandsworth, London UK in 1914.
Hullett's legacy.
Hullett's legacy has stretched beyond Southeast Asia, but his major contributions were to Hong Kong, Sumatra, Malaysia, Borneo, Indonesia and Singapore. Recent field studies in Hong Kong rediscovered ferns which may have been discovered by Hullett. The earliest reported survey of Hong Kong plants was in 1841 documented by Bentham in 1861.
In 2001, the Hong Kong Herbarium published the Checklist of Hong Kong Plants four times. The most recent checklist (2002) shows that 242 fern species have been recorded in Hong Kong. There have been great changes in the environment, vegetation and species of Hong Kong since the First and Second Opium Wars of the mid-nineteenth century. Although documented extinctions of species are few, it is certain that some species have disappeared from Hong Kong because of the massive human impact, and complete deforestation at low altitudes must have resulted in the loss of a substantial fraction of Hong Kong's native flora in the past. Nevertheless, on a more positive note in a recent survey on the biodiversity of Hong Kong during 1996 to 2002, four fern species were ‘rediscovered’ 100 years after they were first collected.
The story of how the Bauhinia arrived in Hong Kong – A short botanical history.
The story of how "Bauhinia" arrived in Hong Kong takes us back more than 500 years, to a time of plague, pirates and perseverance, for it was a time when early botanists began to make their mark on the world. The earliest printed herbal to include a series of plant illustrations: The Herbarium Apulei, Rome, circa 1481- was one of the most widely used, and most practical, remedy books of the Middle Ages. It describes 131 plants, giving a multitude of prescriptions for maladies, ranging from madness, paralysis, dysentery, fertility, stomach ache and ulcers, to antidotes for various poisons. Similarly, Macer Floridus's ‘De viribus herbarum carmen’, Milan, is considered the first printed herbal, with poems describing the medicinal and dietary properties of 77 herbs. The Renaissance saw an immense increase in botanic study and publication. Perhaps the most celebrated botanical work ever printed was written by Leonard Fuchs (a physician who gained his initial fame by finding a cure for the English sweating sickness) ‘De historia stirpium’, Basel, 1542 (or, Notable commentaries on the history of plants) was first published in 1542. A massive, folio volume, this landmark work describes in Latin some 497 plants, and is illustrated by over 500 woodcuts based upon first-hand observation, this provided the first comprehensive study of plants. The Historia is undoubtedly Fuchs' greatest work, and is without equal among the herb books of that era. A labour of love some thirty one years in the making.
Within a short period, botanical texts were being published throughout Europe. Notable contributors and contemporaries of Fuchs to the advancement of botany are Hieronymus Bock's ‘De stirpium commentariorum libri tres’, Strassburg, 1552. Hieronymus Bock (1498–1554), who directed the botanical garden in Zweibrücken, Germany, was a close observer of nature, he was probably the first botanist of the 16th century to feel the necessity of some sort of classification. Bock did not limit his descriptions to the flowering stage of the plants, but described them accurately at various stages in development, providing a concise life-history of each plant. His observations on plant communities foreshadowed the modern science of ecology. In fact, Bock was the first to have recorded the seasons of annual flowering, and he is regarded as the earliest forerunner of Linnaeus, who, as we shall see later was important in naming "Bauhinia".
After Bock came Otto Brunfels's ‘Herbarum vivae eicones ad naturae imitationem’, Strassburg, 1531–36 and the next generation of scientists, from the great Flemish botanist Rembert Dodoens to Italy's Pietro Andrea Mattioli were born. Johann Bauhin (1541–1630) who was a student of Leonard Fuchs wrote an equally weighty tome the ‘Historia plantarum universalis’, a compilation of all that was then known about botany, this was incomplete at his death, but was published at Yverdon in 1650–1651, thirty-seven years later. Gaspard (or Casper) Bauhin (17 January 1560 – 5 December 1624), Johanns brother later wrote his magnum opus The ‘Pinax theatri botanici’ (English, Illustrated exposition of plants) which is a landmark of botanical history, describing some 6,000 species and classifying them.
Whilst the classification system Gaspard Bauhin used was not particularly innovative, using traditional groups such as "trees", "shrubs", and "herbs", and for instance grouping spices into the Aromata, he did correctly group grasses and legumes. It is most likely that this is the work which led Carl Linnaeus (inspiration for the Linnean Society) in deference to the Bauhin brothers 200 years earlier to honour Casper and his brother Johann by naming the genus "Bauhinia" after them in his 1753 Species Plantarum whose prime importance is perhaps that it is the primary starting point of plant nomenclature as it exists today. After the legume was named "Bauhinia" by Linnaeus and documented in his Herbarium in 1755 there is little record of the genus. It is recorded in The Linnean Proceedings of 1858 and 1909. On 7 November 1912, H. N. Ridley addressed the Linnean Society to discuss his discovery of a "Bauhinia" found in Mount Menuang, Selangor, Malaysia.
A hybrid of "Bauhinia", the "Bauhinia blakeana" (also known as the Hong Kong Orchid Tree Bauhinia blakeana), was first discovered in Hong Kong by a French missionary in the 1880s, growing in the grounds of an abandoned house close to the shore near Pokfulam, Hong Kong Island. The close proximity of the tree to a former habitation led S. T. Dunn, in 1908 (then superintendent of the Botanical and Forestry Department) to suggest that it was an introduction (but by whom and when?). The missionary collector subsequently propagated it in the grounds of the nearby Pokfulam Sanatorium run by the Missions Étrangères de Paris, and from there it was introduced to the Hong Kong Botanic Gardens and the grounds of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Canton (now Guangzhou). Dunn (1908) subsequently formally named it "Bauhinia blakeana" in honour of Sir Henry Blake, Governor of Hong Kong between 1898 and 1939.
The Hong Kong Orchid Tree is of great horticultural value. It is completely sterile and is shown to be the result of, probably natural, hybridisation between "Bauhinia purpurea" and "Bauhinia variegata". Vegetative propagation occurs in "Bauhinia blakeana", but only artificially, as a result of active horticultural practices such as grafting and rooting of cuttings: there is no evidence that "B. blakeana" is capable of self-propagating. It has only been perpetuated genetically by artificial horticultural practices and therefore it is not capable of reproducing itself independently. Additionally, there is no evidence that "B. blakeana" originated more than once, and there is strong circumstantial evidence suggesting that all trees cultivated today originate from a single ancestor, grown in the Hong Kong Botanic Gardens. It is often called the orchid tree in Hong Kong. The flower of "B. blakeana" was adopted as the emblem of Hong Kong in 1965 and since 1997 has been part of the flag of the SAR. How the single ancestor tree came to the shores of Hong Kong remains shrouded in mystery.


Timeline of stellar astronomy

Timeline of stellar astronomy


Howell Observatory

The Howell Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Mississippi State University's Astronomy and Physics department. It is located in Starkville, Mississippi.


Phoenix in Chinese astronomy

The modern constellation Phoenix lies across one of the quadrants symbolized by the White Tiger of the West (西方白虎, "Xī Fāng Bái Hǔ"), and The Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, "Jìnnánjíxīngōu"), that divide the sky in traditional Chinese uranography.
According to the quadrant, constellation Phoenix in Chinese sky is not fully seen. Ankaa (Alpha Phoenicis) are bright stars in this constellation that possibly never seen in Chinese sky.
The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 鳳凰座 ("fèng huáng zuò"), which means "the phoenix constellation".
Stars.
The map of Chinese constellation in constellation Phoenix area consists of :


Xiazhi

The traditional Chinese calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms. Xiàzhì, "Geshi", "Haji", or "Hạ chí" is the 10th solar term, and marks the summer solstice. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude of 90° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 105°. It more often refers in particular to the day when the Sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 90°.
Western correlation.
In the Gregorian calendar, it usually begins around 21 June and ends around 7 July.
The solstices.
The solstices (as well as the equinoxes) mark the middle of the seasons in traditional East Asian calendars. Here, the Chinese character 至 means "extreme", which implies "solstices", so the term for the summer solstice directly signifies the summit of summer.


Earth System Research Laboratory

The Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) is a laboratory in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). It is one of seven NOAA Research Laboratories (RLs) and is located in Boulder, Colorado.
ESRL combines six separate NOAA labs under one organization with four Divisions - Global Monitoring, Physical Sciences, Chemical Sciences, and Global Systems. The former labs falling into ESRL are the Aeronomy Laboratory, the Climate Diagnostics Center, the Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory, the Environmental Technology Laboratory, the Forecast Systems Laboratory, and the Surface Radiation Research Branch of the Air Resources Laboratory.
Divisions.
The goal of the Global Monitoring Division (GMD) is to conduct long-term, continuous measurement of atmospheric gases, particles and radiation in order to understand climate forcing, ozone depletion and air quality. This information will be used to support global and regional decisions, climate projections and carbon management.
The Physical Sciences Division (PSD) conducts research to understand the physical environment: the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and land in order to improve local to global weather and climate predictions.
The Chemical Sciences Division (CSD) studies chemical processes in the Earth's atmosphere that affect climate, air quality, and the ozone layer.
The Global Systems Division (GSD) conducts research and development to provide global environmental information and forecast services ranging from short-term weather predictions to longer-term climate forecasts.


Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

The Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, MPIA) is a research institute of the Max Planck Society (MPG). It is located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany near the top of the Königstuhl, adjacent to the historic Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl astronomical observatory. The institute primarily conducts basic research in the natural sciences in the field of astronomy.
In addition to its own astronomical observations and astronomical research, the Institute is also actively involved in the development of observation instruments. The instruments or parts of them are manufactured in the institute's own workshops.
History.
The founding of the institute in 1967 resulted from the insight that a supra-regional institute equipped with powerful telescopes was necessary in order to conduct internationally competitive astronomical research. Hans Elsässer, an astronomer, became the founding director in 1968. In February 1969, a first group of 5 employees started work in the buildings of the neighbouring Königstuhl State Observatory. The institute, which was completed in 1975, was initially dedicated to the preparation and evaluation of astronomical observations and the development of new measurement methods.
From 1973 to 1984, it operated the Calar Alto Observatory on Calar Alto near Almería together with Spanish authorities. This largest observatory on the European mainland was used equally by astronomers from both countries until 2019. On 23 May 2019, the regional government of Andalusia and the MPG signed a transfer agreement for the 50% share in the observatory. Since then, it has been owned exclusively by Spain.
Since 2005, the MPIA has been operating the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) together with partners from Germany, Italy and the USA and equipping it with measuring instruments. The LBT is located on Mount Graham near Tucson, Arizona, which is 3190 m high. On its mount, it carries two primary mirrors, each 8.4 meters in diameter, making it the largest optical reflecting telescope with single monolithic primary mirrors in the world.
Research interests.
Two scientific questions are given priority at the MPIA. One is the formation and development of stars and planets in our cosmic neighbourhood. The resonating question is: Is the Sun with its inhabited planet Earth unique, or are there also conditions in the vicinity of other stars, at least the numerous sun-like ones among them, that are conducive to life? On the other hand, the area of galaxies and cosmology is about understanding the development of today's richly structured Universe with its galaxies and stars and its emergence from the simple initial state after the Big Bang.
The research topics at a glance:
Together with the Center for Astronomy at the University of Heidelberg, the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) and the Department of Astro- and Particle Physics of the MPI for Nuclear Physics (MPIK), the MPIA in Heidelberg is a globally renowned centre of astronomical research.
Since 2015, the MPIA has been running the "Heidelberg Initiative for the Origins of Life" (HIFOL) together with the MPIK, the HITS, the Institute of Geosciences at Heidelberg University and the Department of Chemistry at the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich (LMU). HIFOL brings together top researchers from astrophysics, geosciences, chemistry and the life sciences to promote, strengthen and combine scientific research towards the prerequisites for the emergence of life.
Instrumentation.
The MPIA also builds instruments or parts of them for ground-based telescopes and satellites, including the following:
The MPIA is also participating in the Gaia mission. Gaia is a space mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), in which the exact positions, distances and velocities of around one billion Milky Way stars are determined.
Infrastructure.
The managing director is Hans-Walter Rix (August 2019). Former and current external scientific members of the MPIA were and are:
At the end of 2018, a total of 413 people were employed at the Institute, including 227 scientists, among them 34 junior and visiting scientists. In the same year, 79 doctoral students were supervised in cooperation with the University of Heidelberg. Nine independent research groups have been established at the MPIA per 2018. These include three Max Planck Research Groups and five European research groups. One group is funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Graduate program.
The MPIA participates in the "International Max Planck Research School" (IMPRS) for Astronomy and Cosmic Physics. The IMPRS is an English-language doctoral program that started in 2005. Other partners of the IMPRS are the MPIK, the Center for Astronomy at the University of Heidelberg and the HITS. Since 2007, the IMPRS has been part of the "Heidelberg Graduate School of Fundamental Physics". Spokespersons of the IMPRS are Hans-Walter Rix from MPIA and Stefan Wagner from the Landessternwarte Heidelberg.
Public relations and outreach.
The MPIA hosts the editorial office of the popular journal Sterne und Weltraum(lit. Stars and Space), which was founded in 1962 by Hans Elsässer, later founding director of the MPIA, among others. It is also the patron of the Wissenschaft in die Schulen! (lit. Science into Schools) initiative, which develops educational materials for secondary schools. In December 2008, the institute and the Klaus Tschira Foundation announced their intention to bundle the activities of the Heidelberg astronomers in public relations and work with pupils and teachers in a newly founded .
Haus der Astronomie.
In 2009, "Haus der Astronomie," a center for astronomy education and outreach was founded on the MPIA campus. The center is a partnership between the Max Planck Society, the Klaus Tschira Foundation, Heidelberg University and the City of Heidelberg. The center's galaxy-shaped building, funded and constructed by the Klaus Tschira Foundation, was opened in December 2011. It is operated by the Max Planck Society, which has delegated the task to the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.
Activities in Haus der Astronomie include public talks and guided tours, planetarium shows, workshops for school classes or kindergarten groups, the development of educational materials, pre-service training for teacher students at Heidelberg University and in-service training for German and international teachers.


Anna Estelle Glancy

Anna Estelle Glancy (20 October 1883 – 19 May 1975) was an astronomer, computer and lens designer whose work with Edgar Tillyer at the American Optical Company improved the optics of eyeglasses, cameras, telescopes, and military optical instruments. She was born and died in Waltham, Massachusetts.


Widener University Observatory

The Widener University Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Widener University, but donated by NASA. It is located in Kirkbride Hall on Widener's main campus in Chester, Pennsylvania. The observatory is intended for student use and research within the physics and astronomy department. In addition, public viewing sessions occur throughout the year that are opened to the surrounding community.
The observatory includes a 20.5 foot ASH dome housing a 16" LX200GPS SCT Meade telescope. Four smaller 12" LX200GPS Meade telescopes are used on two observation decks. (See Meade LX200)


Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics

The Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA) is a national research institute funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, located at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. CITA's mission is "to foster interaction within the Canadian theoretical Astrophysics community and to serve as an international center of excellence for theoretical studies in astrophysics." CITA was incorporated in 1984.
CITA has close administrative and academic relations with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR); several CITA faculty also serve as members of CIFAR.
History.
The concept of a nationally-supported institute for theoretical astrophysics dates back to discussions within the Canadian Astronomical Society in the early 1980s. A series of committees advocated a model of a university‑based institute governed by a council of Canadian astrophysicists. Proposals were solicited from universities across the country to host this institute, which by now had been named the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics/Institut Canadien d'astrophysique theorique (CITA/ICAT). The University of Toronto won the resulting spirited competition, and CITA (University of Toronto) was established as an institute within the School of Graduate Studies in June 1984, with staff consisting of a single professor (Peter G. Martin ) as the Acting Director and a visiting professor from Queen's University (Richard Henriksen) and a temporary administrative assistant. Today there are 7 faculty members two of which are Canada Research Chairs, two administrative staff, a Systems Manager and technical computing staff.
At the same time, Professor Richard Henriksen worked on establishing CITA, Inc. (a separate entity from CITA the institute at the University of Toronto) as an incorporated national institute and charity governed by an elected Council of Canadian astrophysics/relativity professors to promote research in theoretical astrophysics across the country. CITA Council is selected from CITA Inc members. There are presently 55 members of CITA, Inc.
CITA's research activities are supported by the University of Toronto, NSERC, multiple grants by the Ontario and Federal governments, as well as private sponsors including the Simons Foundation and CIFAR.
Membership.
CITA has a small number of long-term faculty members, and a larger number of short term (3- or 5-year) postdoctoral positions, as well as an active visitor program; the purpose of the relatively high influx of new researchers or visitors is to ensure that timely topics are well represented at CITA. There are currently approximately 20 postdoctoral researchers at CITA, and 4 full-time administrative and computer staff. Several graduate students in the University of Toronto Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics or Department of Physics work with CITA researchers throughout their graduate work, and typically ten undergraduates come to CITA to work over the summer.
In 1985, Scott D. Tremaine came to CITA as its first Director; Margaret Fukunaga was hired as the permanent Business Officer and Dick Bond arrived as the second faculty member. Dick Bond became the Director in 1996 and Norman Murray was director 2006-2016.
Since 1984, the directors of the institute have been as follows:
Notable past and present faculty members of CITA also include:
Research.
CITA has active research programs in cosmology (particularly in studies of the cosmic microwave background), early universe studies and cosmic inflation, neutron stars (especially scintillometry and magnetars), fast radio burst, active galaxies, star formation and planet formation.
References.
J. Richard Bond receives 2008 Gruber Prize in Cosmology


Dongzhi Festival

The Dōngzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival () is one of the most important Chinese festivals celebrated by the Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Koreans, and Vietnamese during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice), some day between December 21 to December 23.
The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance of this is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram "fù" (, "Returning").
Traditional activities.
Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. One activity that occurs during these get-togethers (especially in the southern parts of China and in Chinese communities overseas) is the making and eating of "tangyuan" (湯圓) or balls of glutinous rice, which symbolize reunion. "Tangyuan" are made of glutinous rice flour and are sometimes brightly colored. Each family member receives at least one large "tangyuan" in addition to several small ones. The flour balls are occasionally pink or green. They are cooked in a sweet soup or savory broth with both the ball and the soup/broth served in one bowl. It is also often served with a mildly alcoholic unfiltered rice wine containing whole grains of glutinous rice (and often also Sweet Osmanthus flowers), called "jiuniang".
In northern China, people typically eat dumplings on Dongzhi. It is said to have originated from Zhang Zhongjing in the Han Dynasty. On one cold winter day, he saw the poor suffering from chilblains on their ears. Feeling sympathetic, he ordered his apprentices to make dumplings with lamb and other ingredients, and distribute them among the poor to keep them warm, to keep their ears from getting chilblains. Since the dumplings were shaped like ears, Zhang named the dish "qùhán jiāoěr tāng" (祛寒嬌耳湯) or dumpling soup that expels the cold. From that time on, it has been a tradition to eat dumplings on the day of Dongzhi.
In southern China, people eat rice cake (), which means reunion. It is not only eaten by the family, but also shared with friends and relatives as a blessing. Mutton soup, rice cake and red bean sticky rice are also popular in South
Old traditions also require people with the same surname or from the same clan to gather at their ancestral temples to worship on this day. There is always a grand reunion dinner following the sacrificial ceremony.
Another tradition is eating hot pot.
The festive food is also a reminder that celebrators are now a year older and should behave better in the coming year. Even today, many Chinese around the world, especially the elderly, still insist that one is "a year older" right after the Dongzhi celebration instead of waiting for the lunar new year.
In Taiwan.
To Taiwanese people, the festival in winter also plays a very important role. It is also a tradition for Taiwanese to eat "tangyuan" on this day. They also use the festive food as an offering dish to worship the ancestors.
In an interesting twist, in accordance with ancient Taiwanese history, many people take some of the "tangyuan" that have been used as offerings and stick them on the back of the door or on windows and tables and chairs. These "empowered" "tangyuan" supposedly serve as protective talismans to keep evil spirits from coming close to children.
In addition to following some of the customs practiced on mainland China, the people of Taiwan have their own unique custom of offering nine-layer cakes as a ceremonial sacrifice to worship their ancestors. These cakes are made using glutinous rice flour in the shape of a chicken, duck, tortoise, pig, cow, or sheep, and then steamed in different layers of a pot. These animals all signify auspiciousness in Chinese tradition.
Another interesting custom in Taiwan is that many people take invigorating tonic foods during this particular winter festival. To the Taiwanese, winter is a time when most physical activities should be limited and you should eat well to nourish your body. This practice follows the habits shown by many animals which follow the law of nature and hibernate throughout winter months to rejuvenate and to preserve life. In order to fight cold temperatures, it is necessary to eat more fatty and meaty foods during winter when your body can better absorb the rich and nutritional foods at this time due to a slower metabolic rate.
Since Dongzhi is the "Extreme of Winter", Taiwanese regard it as the best time of the year to take tonic foods. Some of the most widely popular winter tonic foods enjoyed by Taiwanese to fight cold and strengthen the body's resistance are mutton hot pot and ginger duck hot pot. Other foods like chicken, pork, and abalone are also common materials used in making tonic foods with nurturing herbs such as ginseng, deer horn, and the fungus cordyceps.


Alexander Freeman (mathematician)

Alexander Freeman (1838–1897) was English astronomer and mathematician and a noted correspondent of James Clerk Maxwell and Willard Gibbs.