Leo Minor is a small and faint constellation in the northern celestial
hemisphere. Its name is Latin for "the smaller lion", in contrast to
Leo, the larger lion (19th-century illustration of both pictured). It
lies between the larger and more recognizable Ursa Major to the north
and Leo to the south. Leo Minor was not regarded as a separate
constellation by classical astronomers; it was designated by Johannes
Hevelius in 1687. There are 37 stars brighter than apparent
magnitude 6.5 in the constellation; three are brighter than
magnitude 4.5. 46 Leonis Minoris, an orange giant of magnitude 3.8,
is located some 95 light-years from Earth. At magnitude 4.4, Beta
Leonis Minoris is the second brightest star and the only one in the
constellation with a Bayer designation. It is a binary star, the
brighter component of which is an orange giant and the fainter a yellow-
white main sequence star. The third brightest star is 21 Leonis
Minoris, a rapidly rotating white main-sequence star of average
magnitude 4.5. The constellation also includes two stars with planetary
systems, two pairs of interacting galaxies, and the unique deep-sky
object Hanny's Voorwerp.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Minor>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
230:
Pope Pontian began his pontificate, succeeding Urban I.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pontian>
1645:
Qing dynasty regent Dorgon issued an edict ordering all Han
Chinese men to shave their forehead and braid the rest of their hair
into a queue identical to those of the Manchus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queue_(hairstyle)>
1774:
The Russo-Turkish War officially ended after the Russian and
Ottoman Empires signed the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, with the latter
ceding parts of the Yedisan region to the former.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Turkish_War_(1768%E2%80%9374)>
1944:
World War II: American troops landed on Guam to liberate it
from Japanese control.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guam_(1944)>
1970:
The Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed after 11 years of
construction.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Dam>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
mither:
1. (intransitive, Northern England) To make an unnecessary fuss, moan,
bother.
2. (transitive) To pester or irritate someone. Usually directed at
children.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mither>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Complexity is looking at interacting elements and asking how
they form patterns and how the patterns unfold. It’s important to
point out that the patterns may never be finished. They’re open-ended.
In standard science this hit some things that most scientists have a
negative reaction to. Science doesn’t like perpetual novelty.
--W. Brian Arthur
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Brian_Arthur>