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meteor shower

(Encyclopedia)meteor shower, increase in the number of meteors observed in a particular part of the sky. The trails of the meteors of a meteor shower all appear to be traceable back to a single point in the sky, kn...

Hamilton, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, Mount, peak 4,372 ft (1,333 m) high, W Calif., in the Coast Ranges, E of San Jose. It is the site of Lick Observatory (built 1876–88), directed by the Univ. of California Observatories. ...

Gran Paradiso

(Encyclopedia)Gran Paradiso grän pärädēˈzō [key], mountain, 13,323 ft (4,061 m) high, in Valle d'Aosta, NW Italy. In the Graian Alps, it is the highest Alpine peak entirely in Italian territory. ...

Morteratsch

(Encyclopedia)Morteratsch môrˈtəräch [key], glacier, SE Switzerland, one of the largest in the country. It lies at the foot of Piz Morteratsch, an Alpine peak, 12,317 ft (3,754 m) high, in the Bernina Mts. ...

Spars

(Encyclopedia)Spars [from the motto “Semper Paratus,” Lat.,=always prepared], the women's reserve of the U.S. Coast Guard, created in Nov., 1942, to release men for sea duty. Wartime enlistment reached a peak o...

Dents du Midi

(Encyclopedia)Dents du Midi däNˈ dü mēdēˈ [key], mountain group in the Alps, Vaud canton, SW Switzerland, near the French border. It rises to 10,695 ft (3,260 m) in Dent du Midi (Haute Cime) peak. ...

Corno, Monte

(Encyclopedia)Corno, Monte mōnˈtā kōrˈnō [key], highest peak of the Apennines, c.9,560 ft (2,910 m) high, in the Gran Sasso d'ltalia range, Abruzzi, central Italy. It is snowcapped for most of the year. ...

Fan Si Pan

(Encyclopedia)Fan Si Pan fäN sē päN [key], peak, 10,312 ft (3,143 m) high, on the divide between the Red and Black rivers, NW Vietnam, near the Chinese border. It is the highest point in Vietnam. ...

Emei

(Encyclopedia)Emeiŭˈmāˈ or Omei ōˈmāˈ, ŭˈ– [key], peak, c.10,000 ft (3,050 m) high, SW Sichuan prov., central China. With many Buddhist images and temples and monasteries, it is one of China's sacred pe...

Gata, Sierra de

(Encyclopedia)Gata, Sierra de syārˈrä ᵺā gäˈtä [key], mountain range, W Spain. Between the valleys of the Douro and Tagus rivers, it separates León from Extremadura. Its highest point is the Jálama peak ...