Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Many star names are, in origin, descriptive of the part in the constellation they are found in; thus Phecda, a corruption of Arabic فخذ الدب ( fakhdh ad-dubb, 'thigh of the bear'). Only a handful of the brightest stars have individual proper names not depending on their asterism; so Sirius ('the scorcher'), Antares ('rival of Ares ', i.e ...
Widely recognised as being among the largest known stars. [44] R Horologii: 635 [84] L/T eff: A red giant star with one of the largest ranges in brightness known of stars in the night sky visible to the unaided eye. Despite its large radius, it is less massive than the Sun. 119 Tauri (CE Tauri, Ruby Star) 587 – 593 [85] AD ρ Cassiopeiae
Smallest known galaxy Ursa Major III: Ursa Major: 3 parsecs (9.8 light-years) Half-light radius: A Milky Way satellite dwarf galaxy. Largest known galaxy ESO 383-76: Centaurus: 540.89 kiloparsecs (1,764,000 light-years) 90% total B-light: Central galaxy of Abell 3571 Largest spiral galaxy NGC 6872: Pavo: 220 kiloparsecs (718,000 light-years) D ...
Astronomical naming conventions. In ancient times, only the Sun and Moon, a few stars, and the most easily visible planets had names. Over the last few hundred years, the number of identified astronomical objects has risen from hundreds to over a billion, and more are discovered every year. Astronomers need to be able to assign systematic ...
Lists of astronomical objects. Selection of astronomical bodies and objects: Moon Mimas and Ida, an asteroid with its own moon, Dactyl. Comet Lovejoy and Jupiter, a giant gas planet. The Sun; Sirius A with Sirius B, a white dwarf; the Crab Nebula, a remnant supernova. A black hole (artist concept); Vela Pulsar, a rotating neutron star.
In astronomy, stars have a variety of different stellar designations and names, including catalogue designations, current and historical proper names, and foreign language names. Only a tiny minority of known stars have proper names; all others have only designations from various catalogues or lists, or no identifier at all.
The number of dwarf planets in the Solar System is unknown. Estimates have run as high as 200 in the Kuiper belt [1] and over 10,000 in the region beyond. [2] However, consideration of the surprisingly low densities of many large trans-Neptunian objects, as well as spectroscopic analysis of their surfaces, suggests that the number of dwarf planets may be much lower, perhaps only nine among ...
The following is a list of particularly notable actual or hypothetical stars that have their own articles in Wikipedia, but are not included in the lists above. BPM 37093 — a diamond star. Cygnus X-1 — X-ray source. EBLM J0555-57Ab — is one of the smallest stars ever discovered.