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Oak Ridge Observatory
The Oak Ridge Observatory (ORO, code: 801), also known as the George R. Agassiz Station, is located at 42 Pinnacle Road, Harvard, Massachusetts. It was operated by the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian as a facility of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) from 1933 until August 19, 2005. Description The observatory was established in 1933. Through its first 40 years, its primary research focus was on tracking minor planets and asteroids in the Solar System. Starting in the 1980s, astronomers began to use the facility to measure stars over long periods of time, which led to hunts for extrasolar planets, i.e., planets outside the Solar System. Surveys at Oak Ridge found many such distant planets. The largest telescope east of Texas in the United States is the 61-inch reflector ''(see Hobby-Eberly Telescope)''. However, most of its projects were discontinued in 2005. Harvard University's Optical SETI program continues at the site. It also housed an s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harvard, Massachusetts
Harvard is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is located 25 miles west-northwest of Boston, in eastern Massachusetts. A farming community settled in 1658 and incorporated in 1732, it has been home to several non-traditional communities, such as Harvard Shaker Village and the utopian transcendentalist center Fruitlands. It is also home to St. Benedict Abbey, a traditional Catholic monastery. It is a residential town noted for its public schools, with its students ranking high in the state's English and math examinations. The population was 6,851 at the 2020 census. The official seal of the town depicts the old town public library on The Common prior to renovations that removed the front steps. History Europeans first settled in what later became Harvard in the 17th century, along a road connecting Lancaster with Groton that was formally laid out in 1658. There were few inhabitants until after King Philip's War, in which Groton and Lancas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Extraterrestrial intelligence (often abbreviated ETI) refers to hypothetical intelligent extraterrestrial life. The question of whether other inhabited worlds might exist has been debated since ancient times. The modern form of the concept emerged when the Copernican Revolution demonstrated that the Earth was a planet revolving around the Sun, and other planets were, conversely, other worlds. The question of whether other inhabited planets or moons exist was a natural consequence of this new understanding. It has become one of the most speculative questions in science and is a central theme of science fiction and popular culture. Intelligence Intelligence is, along with the more precise concept of sapience, used to describe extraterrestrial life with similar cognitive abilities as humans. Another interchangeable term is '' sophoncy,'' first coined by Karen Anderson and published in the 1966 works by her husband Poul Anderson. Sentience, like consciousness, is a concept someti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3342 Fivesparks
__NOTOC__ Year 334 ( CCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Optatus and Caesonius (or, less frequently, year 1087 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 334 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Flavius Dalmatius puts down a revolt in Cyprus, led by Calocaerus. Calocaerus is brought to Tarsus (Cilicia), and executed. * The Goths protect the Danube frontier against an invasion by the Vandals. * Emperor Constantine the Great reauthorises gladiatorial combat. By topic Astronomy * Julius Firmicus Maternus makes the first recorded observation of solar prominences, during an annular eclipse (July 17). Births * Huiyuan, Chinese Buddhist teacher and founder of Donglin Temple (d. 416) * Sabbas the Go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3076 Garber
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societies. Evolution of the Arabic digit The use of three lines to denote the number 3 occurred in many writing systems, including some (like Roman and Chinese numerals) that are still in use. That was also the original representation of 3 in the Brahmic (Indian) numerical notation, its earliest forms aligned vertically. However, during the Gupta Empire the sign was modified by the addition of a curve on each line. The Nāgarī script rotated the lines clockwise, so they appeared horizontally, and ended each line with a short downward stroke on the right. In cursive script, the three strokes were eventually connected to form a glyph resembling a with an additional stroke at the bottom: ३. The Indian digits spread to the Caliphate in the 9th ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2872 Gentelec
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87 may refer to: * 87 (number) * one of the years 87 BC, AD 87, 1987, 2087, etc. * Atomic number 87: francium * Intel 8087, a floating-point coprocessor See also * * List of highways numbered A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2674 Pandarus
2674 Pandarus is a large Jupiter trojan from the Trojan camp, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 27 January 1982, by astronomers at Harvard's Oak Ridge Observatory near Harvard, Massachusetts, in the United States. The likely elongated D-type asteroid has a rotation period of 8.48 hours and belongs to the 50 largest Jupiter trojans. It was named after Pandarus from Greek mythology. Orbit and classification ''Pandarus'' is a dark Jovian asteroid orbiting in the trailing Trojan camp at Jupiter's Lagrangian point, 60 ° behind its orbit in a 1:1 resonance ''(see Trojans in astronomy)''. It is also a non-family asteroid of the Jovian background population. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 4.8–5.5 AU once every 11 years and 9 months (4,307 days; semi-major axis of 5.18 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 2 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with its first observation as ' at Crimea–Nauc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harvard College Observatory
The Harvard College Observatory (HCO) is an institution managing a complex of buildings and multiple instruments used for astronomical research by the Harvard University Department of Astronomy. It is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, and was founded in 1839. With the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, it forms part of the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian. HCO houses a collection of approximately 500,000 astronomical plates taken between the mid-1880s and 1989 (with a gap from 1953–1968). This 100-year coverage is a unique resource for studying temporal variations in the universe. The Digital Access to a Sky Century @ Harvard project is digitally scanning and archiving these photographic plates. History In 1839, the Harvard Corporation voted to appoint William Cranch Bond, a prominent Boston clockmaker, as "Astronomical Observer to the University" (at no salary). This marked the founding of the Harvard College Observatory. HCO's first te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4760 Jia-xiang
4760 Jia-xiang, provisional designation , is a background asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 1 April 1981, by astronomers at Harvard University's Oak Ridge Observatory in Massachusetts, United States. The presumed stony S-type asteroid was named after Chinese astronomer Zhang Jiaxiang. It has a rotation period of 14.96 hours. Orbit and classification ''Jia-xiang'' is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population. It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.0–2.6 AU once every 3 years and 7 months (1,296 days; semi-major axis of 2.33 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.13 and an inclination of 10 ° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins with a precovery taken at Palomar Observatory in January 1955, or 26 years prior to its official discovery observation at Oak Ridge. Physical characteristics Rotation period In 2017, two rotatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function The Minor Planet Center is the official worldwide organization in charge of collecting observational data for minor planets (such as asteroids), calculating their orbits and publishing this information via the '' Minor Planet Circulars''. Under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which is part of the Center for Astrophysics along with the Harvard College Observatory. The MPC runs a number of free online services for observers to assist them in observing minor planets and comets. The complete catalogue of minor planet orbits (sometimes referred to as the "Minor Planet Catalogue") may also be freely downloaded. In addition to astrometric data, the MPC colle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Main-belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called asteroids or minor planets. This asteroid belt is also called the main asteroid belt or main belt to distinguish it from other asteroid populations in the Solar System such as near-Earth asteroids and trojan asteroids. The asteroid belt is the smallest and innermost known circumstellar disc in the Solar System. About 60% of its mass is contained in the four largest asteroids: Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea. The total mass of the asteroid belt is calculated to be 3% that of the Moon. Ceres, the only object in the asteroid belt large enough to be a dwarf planet, is about 950 km in diameter, whereas Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea have mean diameters less than 600 km. The remaining bodies range down to the size of a dust particl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Mall
The National Mall is a landscaped park near the downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and various memorials, sculptures, and statues. It is administered by the National Park Service (NPS) of the United States Department of the Interior as part of the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit of the National Park System.. The park receives approximately 24 million visitors each year. The core area of the National Mall extends between the United States Capitol grounds to the east and the Washington Monument to the west and is lined to the north and south by several museums and a federal office building. The term ''National Mall'' may also include areas that are also officially part of neighboring West Potomac Park to the south and west and Constitution Gardens to the north, extending to the Lincoln Memorial on the west and Jeffers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
