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Alcestis

(Encyclopedia)Alcestis ălsĕsˈtĭs [key], in Greek mythology, daughter of Pelias. She was won in marriage by Admetus, who fulfilled her father's condition that her suitor come for her in a chariot pulled by a wil...

Bourdelle, Émile Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Bourdelle, Émile Antoine āmēlˈ äNtwänˈ bo͞ordĕlˈ [key], 1861–1929, French sculptor; son of a cabinetmaker of Montauban. He went to Paris in 1884, where he studied successively under Falgui...

Lamont, Johann von

(Encyclopedia)Lamont, Johann von yōˈhän fən läˈmônt [key], 1805–79, Scottish-German astronomer and magnetician, b. Scotland. In 1817 he went to Ratisbon to study at the seminary. He remained in Germany to ...

Bandinelli, Bartolomeo

(Encyclopedia)Bandinelli, Bartolomeo bätˈchō [key], 1493?–1560, Florentine sculptor and painter; son of a goldsmith. He attempted to emulate Michelangelo, and derived from him a strong interest in musculature....

Commodus

(Encyclopedia)Commodus (Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus) kŏmˈədəs [key], 161–192, Roman emperor (180–192), son and successor of Marcus Aurelius. In 180, reversing his father's foreign policy, he concluded p...

Al-Battani

(Encyclopedia)Al-Battani ălˌbətēˈnēəs [key], b. before 858, d. 929, Arab astronomer and mathematician. He is best known in astronomy for his improvements and corrections of the Ptolemaic tradition. His Kitab...

occultation

(Encyclopedia)occultation ŏkˌəltāˈshən [key], in astronomy, eclipse of one celestial body by another, e.g., when the moon lies between a star and the earth. Occultations of stars by the moon are important in ...

Flammarion, Camille

(Encyclopedia)Flammarion, Camille kämēˈyə flämäryôNˈ [key], 1842–1925, French astronomer and author. He served for some years at the Paris Observatory and the Bureau of Longitudes, and in 1883 he set up a...

astrophysics

(Encyclopedia)astrophysics, application of the theories and methods of physics to the study of stellar structure, stellar evolution, the origin of the solar system, and related problems of cosmology. The distinctio...

eccentricity

(Encyclopedia)eccentricity, in astronomy: see orbit. ...