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Kundla, John Albert

(Encyclopedia)Kundla, John Albert, 1916–, American basketball coach, b. Star Junction, Pa. A star player at the Univ. of Minnesota, he served in the navy during World War II, then coached (1946–47) at the Colle...

Paige, Satchel

(Encyclopedia)Paige, Satchel (Leroy Paige) săchˈəl pāj [key], 1906–82, American baseball player, b. Mobile, Ala. He began pitching in 1924, joined his first professional team two years later, and became a sta...

Wise Men of the East

(Encyclopedia)Wise Men of the East, Magi, or Three Kings, men who came from the East to adore the newborn Jesus. Mat. 2. They were the first to tell Herod of the birth. A star (the Star of Bethlehem) had been a si...

Orion Nebula

(Encyclopedia)Orion Nebula, bright diffuse nebula in the constellation Orion; also known as the Great Nebula of Orion and cataloged as M42 or NGC 1976. It is located near the middle of the “sword” hanging from ...

virtual telescope

(Encyclopedia)virtual telescope, a computerized interferometer (see interference) that merges the images from two or more telescopes to obtain a single, large, enhanced image. The image in each telescope is made fr...

Pawnee

(Encyclopedia)Pawnee pônēˈ [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Caddoan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). At one time the Pawnee lived in what is...

red giant

(Encyclopedia)red giant, star that is relatively cool but very luminous because of its great size. All normal stars are expected to pass eventually through a red-giant phase as a consequence of stellar evolution. A...

Betelgeuse

(Encyclopedia)Betelgeuse bētˈəljo͞ozˌ [key], bright star in the constellation Orion; Bayer designation α Orionis; 1992 position R.A. 5h54.8m, Dec. +7°24′. A red supergiant with a luminosity about 13,000 ti...

sidereal time

(Encyclopedia)sidereal time (ST), time measured relative to the fixed stars; thus, the sidereal day is the period during which the earth completes one rotation on its axis so that some chosen star appears twice on ...

Pleiades, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Pleiades plēˈədēz, plīˈ– [key], in astronomy, famous open star cluster in the constellation Taurus; cataloged as M45. The cluster consists of some 500 stars, has a diameter of 35 light-years, ...