Daily Extra :
Astronomy & Space Word of The Day
ellipse: A flattened circle or oval. That the orbits of the planets are ellipses, not circles, was first discovered by Johannes Kepler based on the careful observations by Tycho Brahe. An ellipse is essentially a circle that has been stretched out of shape. When describing ellipses, the eccentricity defines how "stretched out" it is. In the case of the moon (diagram), when it is closest it is at perigee and
Who Was Born Today?:
1933: Vladimir Yevgrafovich Bugrov, cosmonaut
1958: Jeffrey N Williams, Superior Wisconsin, Major Army/astronaut
1958: Jeffrey N Williams, Superior Wisconsin, Major Army/astronaut
Today in History:
1978: Thiokol conducts 2nd test firing of space shuttle's SRB
1986: 24th Space Shuttle (61-C) Mission-Columbia 7-returns to Earth
1989: Astronomers discover pulsar in remnants of Supernova 1987A (LMC)
2000: STARDUST, Deep Space Maneuver 1A (DSM-1), Successful
