The Allende meteorite is the largest carbonaceous chondrite ever found on Earth. The fireball was witnessed at 1:05 a.m. on February 8, 1969, falling over the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Read more
Leiden University (Dutch: Universiteit Leiden), located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded on the 8th February, 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. Read more
Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes Find One of the Youngest Galaxies in the Universe An international team led by astronomers from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) and La Laguna University (ULL) has just released the first analysis of the observations of the Abell 2744 cluster of ga...
The Devil's Footprints is a name given to a phenomenon that occurred in Devon, England, in 1855: after a light snowfall, trails of hoof-like marks appeared in the snow, following primarily straight lines for over 100 miles. Read more
Bohdan Paczynski, renowned astrophysicist, dies at age 67 Princeton astrophysicist Bohdan Paczynski, whose insights into the nature of celestial phenomena guided many developments in his field, died April 19 after a three-year battle with brain cancer. He was 67. Paczynski's pioneering effo...
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (also romanized Mendeleyev or Mendeleef) (8 February [O.S. 27 January] 1834 - 2 February [O.S. 20 January] 1907), was a Russian chemist and inventor. He is credited as being the creator of the first version of the periodic table of elements. Read more Periodic Table o...
Parinirvana Day, or Nirvana Day is a Mahayana Buddhist holiday celebrated in East Asia. By some it is celebrated on the 8th February, but by most on the 15th February. It celebrates the day when the Buddha is said to have achieved Parinirvana, or complete Nirvana, upon the death of his physical body. R...
Red skies discovered on extreme brown dwarf The brown dwarf, named ULAS J222711-004547, caught the researchers' attention for its extremely red appearance compared to "normal" brown dwarfs. Further observations with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile and the use of an innovati...
NGC 1944 (also ESO 33-SC17) is a magnitude +11.8 open cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud located in the constellation Mensa. The cluster was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel using a 47.5 cm (18.7 inch) reflecting telescope at the Cape of Good Hope on the 8th February 1836. Right As...
NGC 2161 (also ESO 33-SC31) is a magnitude +13.0 open cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud located in the constellation Mensa. The cluster was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel using a 47.5 cm (18.7 inch) reflecting telescope at the Cape of Good Hope on the 8th February 1836. Right As...
NGC 2173 (also ESO 33-SC34) is a magnitude +11.9 open cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud located in the constellation Mensa. The cluster was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel using a 47.5 cm (18.7 inch) reflecting telescope at the Cape of Good Hope on the 8th February 1836. Right As...
NGC 2190 (also ESO 33-SC36) is a magnitude +12.9 globular cluster located in the constellation Mensa. The cluster was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel using a 47.5 cm (18.7 inch) reflecting telescope at the Cape of Good Hope on the 8th February 1836. Right Ascension 06h 01m 04.1s, De...
NGC 2199 (also ESO 34-3, FAIR 247, IRAS06060-7323 and PGC 18379) is a magnitude +12.9 spiral galaxy located 207 million lightyears away in the constellation Mensa. The galaxy was discovered by British astronomer John Herschel using a 47.5 cm (18.7 inch) reflecting telescope at the Cape of Good Hop...
