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Jovian planets

(Encyclopedia)Jovian planets, the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. They are all larger and more massive than the earth. Since they rotate faster, they are more flattened at the poles than are the terre...

satellite, natural

(Encyclopedia)satellite, natural, celestial body orbiting a planet, dwarf planet, asteroid, or star of a larger size. The most familiar natural satellite is the earth's moon; thus, satellites of other planets are o...

Huygens, Christiaan

(Encyclopedia)Huygens, Christiaan krĭsˈtyän hoiˈgəns [key], 1629–95, Dutch mathematician and physicist; son of Constantijn Huygens. He improved telescopic lenses and discovered (1655) a satellite of Saturn a...

Bubastis

(Encyclopedia)Bubastis byo͞obăsˈtĭs [key], ancient city, NE Egypt, in the Nile delta, near the modern Zagazig. Capital of Egypt in the XXII and XXIII dynasties, it began to decline after the second Persian conq...

Encke, Johann Franz

(Encyclopedia)Encke, Johann Franz yōˈhän fränts ĕngˈkə [key], 1791–1865, German astronomer. He was assistant (1816–22) and director (1822–25) of the observatory at Seeberg (near Gotha) and director (fr...

Jupiter, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Jupiter, in Roman religion and mythology, the supreme god, also called Jove. Originally a sky deity associated with rain and agriculture, he developed into the great father god, prime protector of the...

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

(Encyclopedia)National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), federal observatory for radio astronomy, founded in 1956 and operated under contract with the National Science Foundation by Associated Universities, Inc.,...

Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories

(Encyclopedia)Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories: see Jodrell Bank Observatory. ...

superior planet

(Encyclopedia)superior planet, planet whose orbit lies outside that of the earth. The superior planets are Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. ...

Young, Charles Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Young, Charles Augustus, 1834–1908, American astronomer, b. Hanover, N.H., grad. Dartmouth, 1853. He discovered the reversing layer of the solar atmosphere and proved the gaseous nature of the sun's...