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Sagitta is a dim but distinctive constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for 'arrow', and it should not be confused with the larger constellation Sagittarius, the archer. It was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union. Although it dates from antiquity, Sagitta has no star brighter than 3rd magnitude and has the third-smallest area of any constellation. Gamma Sagittae is the constellation's brightest star, with an apparent magnitude of 3.47. Delta, Epsilon, Zeta and Theta Sagittae are each multiple stars whose components can be seen in small telescopes. Two star systems in Sagitta have Jupiter-like planets, while a third—15 Sagittae—has a brown dwarf companion. V Sagittae is a cataclysmic variable—a binary star system that is expected to go nova and briefly become one of the brightest stars in our sky around the year 2083. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Recumbent stone (centre) at Aikey Brae

... that at 21.5 tonnes, the recumbent (pictured) at Aikey Brae stone circle is one of the largest in Aberdeenshire?
... that Molly Gray, the new lieutenant governor of Vermont, is a former competitive skier and the daughter of an Olympic skier?
... that bathrooms in some German bars have vomiting basins?
... that Eleanor Roosevelt wrote four autobiographical memoirs: This Is My Story (1937), This I Remember (1949), On My Own (1958), and The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt (1961)?
... that Rosl Zapf, a mezzo-soprano of the Oper Frankfurt who took part in world premieres, appeared at the Salzburg Festival in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte conducted by Georg Solti?
... that LiDAR can be used to make a digital terrain model?
... that the Butler mansion was built with parquette oak floors, elaborate frescos, wainscot paneling—and a fireproof wing to store the archives of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey?
... that during a spacewalk, Jean-Pierre Haigneré, a French spationaut and crew member of the Mir space station, deployed Sputnik 99 onto its orbit by simply releasing the satellite by hand?

In the news

COVID-19 pandemic: Disease; Virus; By location; Impact; Vaccines; Portal

Protesters in front of the US Capitol

Rioters supporting Donald Trump storm the United States Capitol (pictured), disrupting certification of the presidential election and forcing Congress to evacuate.
In the United States, the Democratic Party wins control of the Senate, with victories in regular and special Senate elections in Georgia.
Saudi Arabia reopens its border with Qatar, ending a three-year diplomatic crisis.

On this day

January 8

Covent Garden Theatre

1697 – Scottish student Thomas Aikenhead became the last person in Great Britain to be executed for blasphemy.
1735 – George Frideric Handel's opera Ariodante premiered at the Covent Garden Theatre (pictured) in London.
1981 – In Trans-en-Provence, France, a local farmer reported a UFO sighting claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".
2011 – Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a public meeting held by U.S. representative Gabby Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, killing six people and injuring twelve others.

Kadi Burhan al-Din (b. 1345)
James Longstreet (b. 1821)
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (d. 1941)

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Lecrae

The discography of Lecrae, an American Christian hip hop artist, consists of ten studio albums, one of which was a collaborative; three mixtapes; one extended play; eighty-six singles, including forty-five as a featured performer; fifty-two music videos, including twenty-three as a featured performer; and eighty guest and other appearances. His studio albums consist of Real Talk (2004), After the Music Stops (2006), Rebel (2008), Rehab (2010), Rehab: The Overdose (2011), Gravity (2012), Anomaly (2014), All Things Work Together (2017), Let the Trap Say Amen (2018) – a collaborative album with Zaytoven, and Restoration (2020). His mixtapes consist of Church Clothes, Church Clothes 2, and Church Clothes 3. Gravity debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, and Anomaly debuted at number one. As of February 2020, he has sold over three million albums. Anomaly is certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, as are his singles "All I Need Is You" and "Blessings" (featuring Ty Dolla Sign). The single "I'll Find You" (featuring Tori Kelly) is certified platinum. (Full list...)

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Dallol is a cinder-cone volcano in the Danakil Depression, northeast of the Erta Ale Range in Ethiopia. The area lies up to 120 m (390 ft) below sea level, and has been repeatedly flooded in the past when waters from the Red Sea have inundated it. The Danakil Depression is one of the hottest places on Earth, and the evaporation of seawater after these flooding episodes produced thick deposits of salt, as seen in this landscape. The deposits at Dallol include significant quantities of the carbonate, sulfate and chloride salts of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Hot springs discharge brine to form the blueish ponds, and small, temporary geysers produce cones of salt.

Photograph credit: Alexander Savin

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