Corvus is a small constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere. Its name means "raven" in Latin. In the Babylonian star catalogues dating from at least 1100 BCE, it was called the Babylonian Raven. One of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, it depicts a raven, a bird associated with stories about the god Apollo, perched on the back of Hydra the water snake. It is also bordered by the constellations Virgo and Crater. Its four brightest stars, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Beta Corvi, form a distinctive quadrilateral in the night sky. With an apparent magnitude of 2.59, Gamma Corvi—also known as Gienah—is the brightest star in the constellation. It is an aging blue giant around four times as massive as the Sun. The young star Eta Corvi has been found to have two debris disks. Three star systems have exoplanets, and a fourth planetary system is unconfirmed. TV Corvi is a dwarf nova—a white dwarf and brown dwarf in very close orbit.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvus_(constellation)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1159:

Pope Alexander III was chosen as the successor of Pope Adrian IV in a disputed election. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_election,_1159

1778:

Anglo-French War: France invaded the island of Dominica and captured its British fort before the latter even knew that France had allied with the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Dominica_(1778)

1936:

The last thylacine died in captivity in Hobart Zoo in Australia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine

1940:

Second World War: The Luftwaffe changed their strategy in the Battle of Britain and began bombing London and other British cities and towns for more than 50 consecutive nights (Heinkel bomber pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blitz

2010:

A Chinese fishing trawler, operating in disputed waters, collided with Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats near the Senkaku Islands, sparking a major diplomatic dispute between the two countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Senkaku_boat_collision_incident

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

fester: 1. (intransitive) To become septic; to become rotten. 2. (intransitive) To worsen, especially due to lack of attention. 3. (transitive) To cause to fester or rankle. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fester

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Let us learn to dream, gentlemen, and then perhaps we shall learn the truth . . . but let us beware of publishing our dreams before they have been put to the proof by the waking understanding.   --August Kekulé https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/August_Kekul%C3%A9