Phoenix is a constellation in the southern sky that stretches from roughly −39° to −57° declination, and from 23.5h to 2.5h of right ascension. Named after the mythical phoenix, it was first depicted on a celestial atlas by Johann Bayer in his 1603 Uranometria. The French explorer and astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille charted the brighter stars and gave their Bayer designations in 1756. The brightest star, Alpha Phoenicis, or Ankaa, is an orange giant of apparent magnitude 2.4. Nu Phoenicis has a dust disk, while the constellation boasts ten star systems with known planets, and HE0107-5240, possibly one of the oldest stars yet discovered. It has around 1/200,000 the metallicity that the Sun has and hence must have formed very early in the history of the universe. The recently discovered galaxy clusters El Gordo and the Phoenix Cluster—located 7.2 and 5.7 billion light years away respectively, are two of the largest objects in the visible universe. Phoenix is the radiant of two annual meteor showers: the Phoenicids in December, and the July Phoenicids.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1773:

The hymn "Amazing Grace" was probably first used in a prayer meeting in Olney, England, without the music familiar to modern listeners. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace

1800:

Quasi-War: An American convoy of four merchant vessels escorted by a schooner was attacked by a squadron of armed barges manned by Haitians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_1_January_1800

1945:

Second World War: The German Luftwaffe executed Operation Bodenplatte in an attempt to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bodenplatte

1959:

Cuban President Fulgencio Batista fled to the Dominican Republic as forces under Fidel Castro took control of Havana, marking the end of the Cuban Revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Revolution

1983:

The ARPANET changed its core networking protocols from NCP to TCP/IP, marking the beginning of the Internet as we know it today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

inception: The creation or beginning of something; the establishment. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inception

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

A legend is sung of when England was young, And Knights were brave and bold. The good King had died, and no one could decide Who was rightful heir to the Throne. It seemed that the land would be torn by war, Or saved by a miracle alone — And that miracle appeared in London town: The Sword in the Stone.   --The Sword in the Stone https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Sword_in_the_Stone