From today's featured articleAntlia (from Latin for "pump") is a constellation in the southern celestial hemisphere. It was established by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century, and its name was later abbreviated from "Antlia Pneumatica" by John Herschel. Completely visible from latitudes south of 49 degrees north, it is close to the stars forming the old constellation of the ship Argo Navis. Antlia is a faint constellation; its brightest star is Alpha Antliae, an orange giant that is a suspected variable star, ranging between apparent magnitudes 4.22 and 4.29. S Antliae is an eclipsing binary star system, changing in brightness as one star passes in front of the other; sharing a common envelope, the stars are so close they will one day merge to form a single star. Two star systems with known exoplanets, HD 93083 and WASP-66, lie within Antlia, as do NGC 2997, a spiral galaxy, and the Antlia Dwarf Galaxy. (Full article...)
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On this day![]() "The Raven" illustration by John Tenniel
Emanuel Swedenborg (b. 1688) · Mary Whitwell Hale (b. 1810) · Jean-Marie Doré (d. 2016)
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A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery is a painting by Joseph Wright of Derby depicting a lecturer giving a demonstration of an orrery to a small audience. The painting broke with tradition in depicting the awe produced by scientific "miracles", while previous artistic depiction of such wonder was reserved for religious events. It is in the permanent collection of the Derby Museum and Art Gallery. Painting: Joseph Wright of Derby
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