Antlia (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.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antlia

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1845:

American poet Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" (illustration shown) appeared in The Evening Mirror, its first publication attributed to Poe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven

1943:

World War II: The Battle of Rennell Island, the last major naval engagement between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Guadalcanal Campaign, began. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rennell_Island

1959:

The first Melodifestivalen, an annual Swedish music competition that determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, was held in Stockholm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodifestivalen

2009:

The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt ruled that people who did not adhere to one of the three government-recognised religions are also eligible to receive government identity documents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_identification_card_controversy

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Rafflesian: 1. Of or relating to Sir Stamford Raffles, a British colonial statesman known for his founding of modern Singapore and British Malaya. 2. (Singapore) Of or relating to an educational institution named after Sir Stamford Raffles. 3. (Singapore) A current or former student of an educational institution named after Sir Stamford Raffles. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rafflesian

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.   --Thomas Paine https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine