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Cepheid variables

(Encyclopedia)Cepheid variables sēˈfēĭd [key], class of variable stars that brighten and dim in an extremely regular fashion. The periods of the fluctuations (the time to complete one cycle from bright to dim a...

Pan, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Pan, in astronomy, one of the named moons, or natural satellites, of Saturn. Also known as Saturn XVIII (or S18), Pan is 12.5 mi (20 km) in diameter, orbits Saturn at a mean distance of 83,000 mi (133...

Regency

(Encyclopedia)Regency, in British history, the period of the last nine years (1811–20) of the reign of George III, when the king's insanity had rendered him unfit to rule and the government was vested in the prin...

prehistory

(Encyclopedia)prehistory, period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some reco...

Aurignac

(Encyclopedia)Aurignac ôrēnyäkˈ [key], village (1993 est. pop. 965), Haute-Garonne dept., S France, at the foot of the Pyrenees. Its caves, excavated in 1860, contain relics of prehistoric man of the Aurignacia...

La Tène

(Encyclopedia)La Tène lä tĕn [key], ancient Celtic site on Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland, that gives its name to the second and final period of the European Iron Age. It is characterized by an art style that drew...

Three Kingdoms

(Encyclopedia)Three Kingdoms, period of Chinese history from 220 to 265, after the collapse of the Han dynasty. The period takes its name from the three states into which China was divided. Wei occupied the north. ...

Abu al-Fida

(Encyclopedia)Abu al-Fida äˌbo͞o äl-fēˈdä, –fĭdäˈ [key], 1273–1331, Arab historian, b. Damascus. He fought against the Christians in the last period of the Crusades and later became (1310) governor of...

Trinidad

(Encyclopedia)Trinidad trēnēᵺäᵺˈ [key], town (1983 est. pop. 43,500), Sancti Spíritus prov., central Cuba. Tobacco processing is the chief industry, although other agricultural processing has been develope...

Paphos

(Encyclopedia)Paphos pāˈfŏs [key], two ancient cities, SW Cyprus, on the coast. Old Paphos was probably founded in the Mycenaean period by colonists from Greece or Phoenicia. Modern excavations have revealed rui...