Hi everybody

Here's the latest article from the Astronomy site at BellaOnline.com.

Star Names in the Harry Potter Stories
In the Harry Potter books there are a number of characters that are named for stars and constellations. You can find out more about these stars - and for those that don't know the books, there's a bit of background on the characters.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art182292.asp

*Anniversaries(

(1) Discovery of Rhea
On December 23, 1672 Giovanni Cassini discovered Rhea, Saturn's second largest moon. You can find out more about this interesting moon at: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art56119.asp

(2) Kepler's birth
Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571. He made sense of the Copernican cosmos by working out the orbits of the planets. The Sun needed to be in the center, but no cycles or epicycles were needed. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art36947.asp

(3) Arthur Eddington's birth
Eddington was born on December 28, 1882. He was an English astrophysicist and he went to observe a total solar eclipse. The eclipse observations supported Einstein's theory or relativity because they showed starlight being bent by the Sun's gravitational field.

(4) Sergei Korolev's birth
Korolev was born on January 30, 1906. He was the mastermind of the early Soviet space program. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art5686.asp

*Happy Holidays*

If you are celebrating a holiday in December, my best wishes to you. Merry Christmas. Good Yule. Happy Kwanzaa.

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I wish you clear skies.

Mona Evans, Astronomy Editor
http://astronomy.bellaonline.com

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