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Addis Ababa

(Encyclopedia)Addis Ababa ădˈĭs ăbˈəbə [key] [Amharic,=new flower], city (2021 metro. area pop. 5,005,524), capital of Ethiopia. It is situated at c.8,000 ft (2,440 m) on a well-...

culminate

(Encyclopedia)culminate, in astronomy, the maximum height in the sky reached by a celestial body on a given day. At the culminate the body is crossing the observer's celestial meridian and is said to be in upper tr...

Rømer, Olaus

(Encyclopedia)Rømer, Olaus or Ole ōläˈo͝os, ōˈlə römˈər [key], 1644–1710, Danish astronomer. He is noted for his discovery that light travels at a definite speed and does not move through space instant...

Horrocks, Jeremiah

(Encyclopedia)Horrocks or Horrox, Jeremiah both: hŏrˈəks [key], 1618?–1641, English astronomer. He made the first observation of the transit of Venus. His Venus in sole visa, which narrates this experience, wa...

meridian circle

(Encyclopedia)meridian circle: see transit instrument. ...

Quill, Michael Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Quill, Michael Joseph, 1905–66, American labor leader, b. Co. Kerry, Ireland. Quill was active (1919–23) in the movement for Irish independence before emigrating (1926) to the United States. He wo...

San Francisco Bay

(Encyclopedia)San Francisco Bay, 50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 13 mi (4.8–21 km) wide, W Calif.; entered through the Golden Gate, a strait between two peninsulas. The bay is as deep as 100 ft (30 m) in spots, ...

Magadan

(Encyclopedia)Magadan məgədänˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 152,000), capital of Magadan region, Russian Far East, a port on the Sea of Okhotsk. It has shipyards, canning factories, and a major airport. A highway lea...

Sterlitamak

(Encyclopedia)Sterlitamak styĭrlyētəmäkˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 247,000), Bashkortostan, E European Russia, on the Belaya River. It is a port and the center of a chemical complex. Milling and construction equi...

Halley, Edmond

(Encyclopedia)Halley, Edmond hălˈē, hôˈlē [key], 1656–1742, English astronomer and mathematician. He is particularly noted as the first astronomer to predict the return of a comet and the first to point out...