(Encyclopedia) South Pole, southern end of the earth's axis, by convention at lat. 90° S. Because the earth's rotational axis wobbles slightly over time, the location where the southern end of the…
(Encyclopedia) Burnet, Thomas, c.1635–1715, English cleric and scientist, b. Croft, in Yorkshire, England. He was educated at Northallerton and Cambridge. Following travels in Europe, Burnet…
Sources: NASA and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A new tool to help scientists, the media, and the public assess the potential danger of asteroids…
(Encyclopedia) AntaeusAntaeusăntēˈəs [key], in Greek mythology, giant; son of Poseidon and Gaea, the goddess of the earth. He became stronger whenever he touched the earth, his mother. He killed…
(Encyclopedia) Venus, in astronomy, 2d planet from the sun; it is often called the evening star or morning star and is brighter than any object in the sky except the sun and the moon. Because its…
(Encyclopedia) glacial periods, times during which large portions of the earth's surface were covered with thick glacial ice sheets. In the Pleistocene epoch, in the Carboniferous and Permian periods…
THE MOON IN ECLIPSETHE LUNAR SURFACEPHASES OF THE MOONFIND OUT MORECircling round Earth once a month, the Moon is our planet’s only natural satellite. As the Moon orbits Earth, our view of…
(Encyclopedia) conjunction, in astronomy, alignment of two celestial bodies as seen from the earth. Conjunction of the moon and the planets is often determined by reference to the sun. When a body is…
(Encyclopedia) Attenborough, Sir David Frederick, 1926–, British naturalist and television personality. After serving in the Royal Navy (1947–49), he worked as an editor, then joined the BBC (1952)…
(Encyclopedia) aberration of starlight, displacement of the apparent path of light from a star, resulting in a displacement of the apparent position of the star from its true position; discovered by…
