Caelum is a faint constellation in the southern sky, introduced in the 1750s by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. Latin for "chisel", it is the eighth-smallest constellation, measuring around 0.038 steradians, just smaller than Corona Australis. Caelum is a rather barren constellation with few objects of interest, due to its small size and location away from the plane of the Milky Way. The constellation's brightest star, Alpha Caeli, is only of magnitude 4.45, and only one other star (Gamma1 Caeli) is brighter than magnitude 5. Other notable objects in Caelum are RR Caeli, a binary star with one planet approximately 20.13 parsecs (65.7 ly) away; X Caeli, a Delta Scuti variable that forms an optical double with Gamma1 Caeli; and HE0450-2958, a Seyfert galaxy (pictured) that at first appeared as just a jet, with no host galaxy visible. The source of the jet was once suggested to be a supermassive black hole, but is now agreed to be a small galaxy that is partially obscured by light from the jet and a nearby starburst galaxy.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caelum
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1348:
The first-ever appointments to the Order of the Garter, an order of chivalry founded by King Edward III of England, were announced. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Garter
1661:
Charles II, King of England, Ireland, and Scotland was crowned at Westminster Abbey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_England
1918:
First World War: The British Royal Navy conducted a raid on the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeebrugge_Raid
1985:
The Coca-Cola Company introduced "New Coke" to replace its flagship soft drink Coca-Cola, which generated so much negative response that the company put the previous formula back on the market less than three months later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke
2009:
Gamma-ray burst GRB 090423 was detected, coming from the most distant known astronomical object of any kind at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRB_090423
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
bardolator: (usually pejorative) One who loves or worships the works of William Shakespeare. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bardolator
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve. --Max Planck https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Planck