Epsilon Eridani is a star in the constellation of Eridanus. Viewable from most of Earth's surface along a declination 9.46° south of the celestial equator, it is 10.5 light-years away and has an apparent magnitude of 3.73. It is the third-closest individual star or star system visible to the unaided eye. Estimated at less than a billion years old, the young star has a higher level of magnetic activity than the present-day Sun, with a stellar wind 30 times as strong. Epsilon Eridani is smaller and less massive than the Sun, with a greater proportion of hydrogen and helium. It is a main-sequence star of spectral class K2, which means that energy generated at the core through nuclear fusion of hydrogen is emitted from the surface at a temperature of about 5,000 K, giving it an orange hue. Observations for more than twenty years have yielded evidence of a giant planet orbiting the star, making it one of the nearest systems with a candidate exoplanet. The detection of this planet, Epsilon Eridani b, was announced by Bruce Campbell, Gordon Walker and Stephenson Yang in 1987.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1779:

English explorer James Cook was killed near Kealakekua when he tried to kidnap Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the ruling chief of the Island of Hawaii. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Kalani%CA%BB%C5%8Dpu%CA%BBu_by_Captain_James_Cook

1943:

World War II: General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim's 5th Panzer Army launched a concerted attack against Allied positions in Tunisia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sidi_Bou_Zid

1961:

Lawrencium, the metallic radioactive synthetic element with atomic number 103, was first made at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrencium

1979:

Adolph Dubs, United States Ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped by unknown agents and killed during a gun battle between Afghan police and the perpetrators. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolph_Dubs

1989:

A fatwa was issued for the execution of Salman Rushdie for authoring The Satanic Verses, a novel Islamic fundamentalists considered blasphemous. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses_controversy

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

tachycardia: A rapid resting heart rate, especially one above 100 beats per minute. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tachycardia

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Love is the mystery of divine revelations! Love is the effulgent manifestation! Love is the spiritual fulfillment! Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit inspired into the human spirit! Love is the cause of the manifestation of the Truth (God) in the phenomenal world! Love is the necessary tie proceeding from the realities of things through divine creation! Love is the means of the most great happiness in both the material and spiritual worlds! Love is a light of guidance in the dark night! Love is the bond between the Creator and the creature in the inner world! Love is the cause of development to every enlightened man! Love is the greatest law in this vast universe of God! Love is the one law which causeth and controleth order among the existing atoms! Love is the universal magnetic power between the planets and stars shining in the loft firmament! Love is the cause of unfoldment to a searching mind, of the secrets deposited in the universe by the Infinite! Love is the spirit of life in the bountiful body of the world! Love is the cause of the civilization of nations in this mortal world! Love is the highest honor to every righteous nation! The people who are confirmed therein are indeed glorified by the Supreme Concourse, the angels of heaven and the dwellers of the Kingdom of El-Abha!… O beloved of God! Be ye the manifestations of God and the lamps of guidance throughout all regions shining with the light of love and union! How beautiful the effulgence of this light!   --`Abdu'l-Bahá https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%60Abdu%27l-Bah%C3%A1