weather forecasting: Measurements and ideas as the basis for weather prediction: …next-generation Doppler weather radar (NEXRAD) was largely in place in the United States, which allowed meteorologists to predict severe weather events with additional lead time before their occurrence. During the late 1990s and early 21st century, computer processing power increased, which allowed weather bureaus to produce more-sophisticated ensemble forecasts—that…

Stardust/NExT, a U.S. space probe that captured and returned dust grains from interplanetary space and from a comet. Stardust was launched on February 7, 1999. It flew past the asteroid Annefrank on November 2, 2002, and the comet Wild 2 on January 2, 2004. A sample capsule containing the dust

John Schlesinger: Films of the 1990s and final work: …the victim of rape, and The Next Best Thing (2000), in which Madonna played a yoga instructor who decides to have a baby with her gay best friend (Rupert Everett).

David Bowie: …resurfaced a decade later with The Next Day (2013), a collection of assured, mostly straightforward, rock songs. The searching, jazz-infused Blackstar (2016) was released two days before his death from cancer. In Bowie’s final years he also cowrote the musical Lazarus (premiered 2015), which was inspired by The Man Who…

Denis Villeneuve: …a short comedy about gluttony, Next Floor (2008), and followed with Polytechnique (2009), a disturbing and affecting dramatization of a real-life massacre of 14 women that had happened at a Montreal university in 1989. Incendies (2010), adapted from a play by Wajdi Mouawad, uses a story of Montreal twins fulfilling…

Ice Cube: Film and TV career: … (1991), the Friday series (1995, 2000, 2002), the Barbershop series (2002, 2004, 2016), and 21 Jump Street (2012) and 22 Jump Street (2014). Throughout his career, he acted alongside major stars like Bernie Mac, Jennifer Lopez,

Steve Jobs: NeXT and Pixar: Jobs quickly started another firm, NeXT Inc., designing powerful workstation computers for the education market. His funding partners included Texan entrepreneur Ross Perot and Canon Inc., a Japanese electronics company. Although the NeXT computer was notable for its engineering design, it was eclipsed by less costly computers from competitors such…

Pat Morita: Stand-up comedy and acting: …Kid Part III (1989), and The Next Karate Kid (1994).

Patrick Swayze: …films—including Road House (1989) and Next of Kin (1989)—before being cast as the romantic lead opposite Demi Moore in Ghost, a supernatural drama that was a box office sensation. For his portrayal of a murdered investment banker who becomes a ghost, Swayze was nominated for his second Golden Globe. His…

Atom Egoyan: …experiences for such films as Next of Kin (1984), in which a young man masquerades as a lost son of an Armenian family; he first gained widespread recognition when that film was chosen to be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. Egoyan next directed Family Viewing, a story about…

Christopher Walken: …appeared in Paul Mazursky’s autobiographical Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976) and the horror film The Sentinel (1977) before winning notice for a small part as the title character’s apparently suicidal brother in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977).

Jean-Louis Trintignant: …Trintignant, including L’Été prochain (1985; Next Summer) and the television movie L’Insoumise (1996; “The Unsubdued”).

Russell Crowe: …from prison in the thriller The Next Three Days. In The Man with the Iron Fists (2012), an homage to kung fu movies, he played a roguish English soldier in feudal China, and in the musical Les Misérables (2012) he performed the role of the determined police inspector Javert. Crowe…

Garson Kanin: Film directing: … written by Dalton Trumbo, and Next Time I Marry, a screwball comedy starring Lucille Ball. The Great Man Votes (1939) was Kanin’s first critical success, thanks largely to a moving performance by John Barrymore. An acerbic satire on politicians and pollsters, it depicts an alcoholic former professor who is about…

Jimmie Johnson: …Series and, in 2008, the Sprint Cup Series.) He also earned his first Busch Series win in 2001, at Chicagoland Speedway, winding up eighth in that series’s point standings. In 2002 he began his rookie season in the Cup Series, winning three races and ending the season ranked fifth. Two…

Tom Steyer: …became the founding president of NextGen Climate, which was largely involved in environmental issues. He also created NextGen Climate Action Committee, a PAC that helped establish him on the national political scene. Steyer’s other initiatives included the nonprofit Beneficial State Bank in Oakland, California, which he founded with his wife,…

Steve Jobs: NeXT and Pixar: …on its innovative software system, NEXTSTEP.

nexum, in very early Roman law, a type of formal contract involving the loan of money under such oppressive conditions that it might result in the debtor’s complete subjection to the creditor. The transaction was accomplished by means of a ritual employing scales and copper, the traditional symbols

Google: Android OS and entry into the smartphone market: …Apple’s iPhone by introducing the Nexus One smartphone. Nicknamed the “Google Phone,” the Nexus One used the latest version of Android and featured a large, vibrant display screen, aesthetically pleasing design, and a voice-to-text messaging system that was based on advanced voice-recognition software. However, its lack of native support for…

Elisabet Ney was a sculptor remembered for her statues and busts of European and Texas personages of the mid- to late 19th century. Ney was the daughter of a stonecutter, and from him she inherited artistic ambitions. She studied drawing privately in her home city of Münster and at the Royal

Elisabet Ney was a sculptor remembered for her statues and busts of European and Texas personages of the mid- to late 19th century. Ney was the daughter of a stonecutter, and from him she inherited artistic ambitions. She studied drawing privately in her home city of Münster and at the Royal

Michel Ney was one of the best known of Napoleon’s marshals (from 1804). He pledged his allegiance to the restored Bourbon monarchy when Napoleon abdicated in 1814. Upon Napoleon’s return in 1815, Ney rejoined him and commanded the Old Guard at the Battle of Waterloo. Under the monarchy, again

Michel Ney was one of the best known of Napoleon’s marshals (from 1804). He pledged his allegiance to the restored Bourbon monarchy when Napoleon abdicated in 1814. Upon Napoleon’s return in 1815, Ney rejoined him and commanded the Old Guard at the Battle of Waterloo. Under the monarchy, again

Neyagawa, city, Ōsaka fu (urban prefecture), Honshu, Japan, in the northern part of the Kōchi-gawa (Kōchi River) plain. Many ancient relics attest to prehistoric settlement in the area. With the construction of a railway line to Ōsaka in 1910, Neyagawa grew as a residential suburb. The few

Jerzy Neyman was a Polish mathematician and statistician who, working in Russian, Polish, and then English, helped to establish the statistical theory of hypothesis testing. Neyman was a principal founder of modern theoretical statistics. In 1968, he was awarded the prestigious National Medal of

Neymar is a Brazilian football (soccer) player who is one of the most prolific scorers in his country’s storied football history. Neymar began playing football as a boy in São Vicente, under the guidance of his father, a former professional footballer who remained a close adviser and mentor

Neyshābūr, town, northeastern Iran. Neyshābūr is situated 46 miles (74 km) west of Meshed. The town, which has shifted its position repeatedly in historical times, lies at an elevation of 3,980 feet (1,213 metres) in a wide, well-watered, and fertile plain at the southern foot of the Bīnālūd

Nez Percé, North American Indian people whose traditional territory centred on the lower Snake River and such tributaries as the Salmon and Clearwater rivers in what is now northeastern Oregon, southeastern Washington, and central Idaho, U.S. They were the largest, most powerful, and best-known of

Nez Percé: …Americans eventually evolved into the Nez Percé War of 1877. For five months a small band of 250 Nez Percé warriors, under the leadership of Chief Joseph, held off a U.S. force of 5,000 troops led by Gen. Oliver O. Howard, who tracked them through Idaho, Yellowstone Park, and Montana…

Nezahualcóyotl, municipality northeast of Mexico City, México estado (state), central Mexico. Situated at the northeastern end of the Valle de México just outside of Mexico City, Nezahualcóyotl has become one of Mexico’s largest localities. Settlement began shortly after 1900, when Lake Texcoco was

Neẓāmī was the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature, who brought a colloquial and realistic style to the Persian epic. Little is known of Neẓāmī’s life. Orphaned at a young age, he spent his entire life in Ganja, leaving only once to meet the ruling prince. Although he enjoyed the

Ferdowsī: …reliable source is given by Neẓāmī-ye ʿArūẓī, a 12th-century poet who visited Ferdowsī’s tomb in 1116 or 1117 and collected the traditions that were current in his birthplace less than a century after his death.

stinkbug: The southern green stinkbug, or green vegetable bug (Nezara viridula), which occurs worldwide, damages beans, berries, tomatoes, and other garden crops. The rice stinkbug (Oebalus pugneax) causes severe losses to the rice crop in North America.

lymphatic system: Diseases of the lymphatic system: …autoimmune diseases, DiGeorge syndrome and Nezelof disease, result in the failure of the thymus to develop and in the subsequent reduction in T-cell numbers, and removal of the bursa from chickens results in a decrease in B-cell counts. The destruction of bone marrow also has devastating effects on the immune…

Yannick Nézet-Séguin is a Canadian conductor and pianist who was music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra (2012– ), which he was credited with revitalizing through a dynamic mixture of “music-making and diplomacy,” and of the Metropolitan Opera (2018– ) in New York City. As a young man,

Nizhyn, city, north-central Ukraine. Nizhyn dates from the 11th century and was incorporated in 1781. It served as a regimental centre in the Cossack-controlled state known as the Hetmanate. It contains several buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries, including the cathedrals of St. Nicholas and

Battle of Nizip, (June 24, 1839), battle between forces of the Ottoman Empire and those of Muḥammad ʿAlī, viceroy of Egypt, at Nizip (now in southeastern Turkey), in which the Ottomans were defeated. Their empire was spared only by the intervention of Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia.

Neziqin, (Hebrew: “Damages”), the fourth of the six major divisions, or orders (sedarim), of the Mishna (codification of Jewish oral laws), which was given its final form early in the 3rd century ad by Judah ha-Nasi. Neziqin deals principally with legally adjudicated damages and financial

Czech literature: After 1918: …Deml, Josef Hora, František Halas, Vítězslav Nezval, and Jaroslav Seifert exhibited great vitality and variety, with work of the highest quality being produced. After World War II, however, the newly established communist regime suppressed free literary activity and permitted only works conforming to the drab and restrictive tenets of Socialist…

neilah, in Judaism, the last of the five Yom Kippur services. As the concluding rite of Yom Kippur, the service is the most sacred of the yearly liturgy and is expressed in melodies of great solemnity. When the shofar (ritual ram’s horn) sounds at the close of the neilah, the synagogue service ends

neilah, in Judaism, the last of the five Yom Kippur services. As the concluding rite of Yom Kippur, the service is the most sacred of the yearly liturgy and is expressed in melodies of great solemnity. When the shofar (ritual ram’s horn) sounds at the close of the neilah, the synagogue service ends

National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Canadian department of film production. It was established in 1939 and directed by John Grierson (1898–1972), who developed the studio into a leading producer of documentaries, including the World War II propaganda series Canada Carries On and The World in

history of the blind: The organization of the blind in the United States: …in 1940 to charter the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). The NFB organized affiliates across the United States to become the largest advocacy group of blind people. The NFB began publishing the Braille Monitor in 1957 and produced a number of leaders in the “blind movement” who advanced the…

National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the largest political advocacy organization in the United States that represents small and independent businesses. NFIB was founded in 1943, and it provides resources to small business owners and managers and works to influence national and state

National Football League (NFL), major American professional football organization, founded in 1920 in Canton, Ohio, as the American Professional Football Association. Its first president was Jim Thorpe, an outstanding American athlete who was also a player in the league. The NFL’s present name was

American football: Showmanship on the field: …League of American Football (later NFL Europe; disbanded in 2007). The African American athletes who increasingly dominated football also brought a new style to the game. The beginnings of end zone dances in the 1970s escalated into highly choreographed routines, followed by other attention-grabbing gestures by defensive as well as…

Canton: …in organizing the sport, the Pro Football Hall of Fame was established there in 1963.

Gene Upshaw: …the executive director of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA; 1983–2008).

Gene Upshaw: …the executive director of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA; 1983–2008).

Fabianism: …Fabianism was revived with the New Fabian Research Bureau (NFRB), formed by Cole independently of the society in 1931. The NFRB included a number of social-democratic intellectuals, such as Leonard Woolf, William Robson, Hugh Dalton, and Evan Durbin. Laski was briefly involved in the early 1930s. The bureau amalgamated with…

basketball: The early years: …during the same year the National Federation of State High School Associations likewise assumed the task of establishing separate playing rules for the high schools. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Rules Committee for men is a 12-member board representing all three NCAA divisions. It has six members from Division…

non-fungible token (NFT), a non-interchangeable digital asset such as a photograph, song, or video whose ownership has been authenticated and stored on a database called a blockchain and which can be collected, sold, and traded on various online platforms. (Read Britannica’s biography of this

NFTs can tokenize almost anything.Have you ever thought about buying a non-fungible token—an NFT? If you aren’t terribly interested in owning digital art, then you may think NFTs just aren’t for you. But did you know that NFTs can be used to digitally establish ownership of almost anything? A

United Farm Workers (UFW), U.S. labour union founded in 1962 as the National Farm Workers Association by the labour leaders and activists Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. It seeks to empower migrant farmworkers and to improve their wages and working conditions. The union also works to promote

Celeste Ng is an American writer who authored several best-selling novels, including Everything I Never Told You (2014) and Little Fires Everywhere (2017). Her work often includes elements of mystery, family drama, and social commentary. Ng was born to parents who emigrated from Hong Kong in the

Āpirana Ngata: …the Polynesian society and his Nga Moteatea (1929), largely a collection of songs and chants of the various Māori tribes.

Ngugi wa Thiong’o: …in Kikuyu, Ngaahika Ndeenda (1977; I Will Marry When I Want), the performance of which led to his detention for a year without trial by the Kenyan government. (His book Detained: A Writer’s Prison Diary, which was published in 1981, describes his ordeal.) The play attacks capitalism, religious hypocrisy, and…

Ngada, tribe inhabiting the south coast of Flores, one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, in Indonesia. They live around the Inerie volcano and inland on the Badjava plateau. Primarily of Proto-Malay stock, they speak a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Ambon-Timor group, and numbered 35,000–40,000 in

Austronesian languages: Central Malayo-Polynesian (CMP): …are available include Manggarai and Ngadha, spoken on the island of Flores; Roti, spoken on the island of the same name; Tetum, spoken on the island of Timor; and Buruese, spoken on the island of Buru in the central Moluccas.

Dayak: …Sarawak and eastern Kalimantan; the Ngaju of central and southern Kalimantan; the Bidayuh of southwestern Sarawak and western Kalimantan; and the Iban of Sarawak.

Dalai Lama: The next Dalai Lama, Ngag-dbang-rgya-mtsho (1617–82), is commonly called the Great Fifth. He established, with the military assistance of the Khoshut Mongols, the supremacy of the Dge-lugs-pa sect over rival orders for the temporal rule of Tibet. During his reign the majestic winter palace of the Dalai Lamas, the…

New Zealand: John Key’s first term as prime minister (2008–11): …settlement with the South Island’s Ngāi Tahu tribe that at the time was the largest and oldest land claim in the country’s history, and a 2008 land exchange with a group of seven North Island tribes. The government also apologized for the suffering and injustices inflicted on Māori and made…

Dayak: …Sarawak and eastern Kalimantan; the Ngaju of central and southern Kalimantan; the Bidayuh of southwestern Sarawak and western Kalimantan; and the Iban of Sarawak.

Congo River: Life of the river peoples: Among these peoples are the Ngombe—“water people”—who inhabit the Itimbiri-Ngiri and the triangle formed by the Congo and the Ubangi. Other fisherfolk of the marshes dwell in the lagoons and the flooded forests of the region where the confluence of the Congo and the Alima, Likouala, and Sangha occurs.

Kenya: World War II to independence: …two of KANU’s founding members, Ronald Ngala and Daniel arap Moi, created their own organization, the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU). KADU’s position was that ethnic interests could best be addressed through a decentralized government; it was also concerned about Kikuyu domination. KANU won more seats than KADU in elections…

Mount Stanley, part of the Ruwenzori Range on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, in east- central Africa. Stanley contains 9 of the 10 peaks that rise above 16,000 feet (4,900 metres), including the highest in the range, Margherita Peak (16,762 feet [5,109 metres]).

Bhutia, Himalayan people who are believed to have emigrated southward from Tibet in the 8th or 9th century ce. The Bhutia constitute a majority of the population of Bhutan, where they live mainly in the western and central regions of the country, and form minorities in Nepal and India, particularly

Lake Ngami, shallow lake at the southwest corner of the 4,000-square-mile (10,400-square-kilometre) Okavango Swamp in northwestern Botswana. The swamp and the lake are fed by the Okavango River, which loses most of its flow through evaporation in the marshes. Lake Ngami is 3,057 feet (932 m) above

fish sauce, in Southeast Asian cookery, a liquid seasoning prepared by fermenting freshwater or saltwater fish with salt in large vats. After a few months time the resulting brownish, protein-rich liquid is drawn off and bottled. It is sometimes allowed to mature in the sun in glass or earthenware

Nganasan, an indigenous Arctic people who traditionally resided in the lower half of the Taymyr Peninsula of Russia. They numbered about 800 in the early 21st century. The Dolgan also inhabit this region, and neighbouring groups include the Sakha and the Enets. The Nganasan speak a Uralic language

Samoyedic languages: …Nenets (Yurak), Enets (Yenisey), and Nganasan (Tavgi). The South Samoyedic subgroup comprises Selkup and the practically extinct Kamas language. None of these languages was written before 1930, and they are currently used only occasionally for educational purposes in some elementary schools.

Stone Age: East and Southeast Asia: …this complex, known as the Ngandongian, which has also been reported from the Celebes and from the Philippines.

African music: History: …the part singing style of Ngangela, Chokwe, and Luvale peoples in eastern Angola that the similarity is immediately recognized by informants from both cultures. Why this is so is a riddle. The two areas are separated by several countries with different approaches to multipart singing. Another historical riddle is the…

Nyainqêntanglha Mountains: …comprises a northern range, the Nganglong (A-ling) Mountains, and a southern range, the Kailas Range, which is much more rugged and heavily glaciated. The highest peak of the Nganglong Mountains is 21,637 feet (6,595 metres) above sea level, and the highest peak in the Kailas Range rises to 22,028 feet…

Angola: Daily life: The feast of Nganja, usually celebrated in April, is a harvest festival during which children roast corn. The Futungo market, near Luanda, provides craftsmen with a place to sell their handicrafts.

Ngaoundéré, town located in north-central Cameroon. It is situated on the Adamawa Plateau. Ngaoundéré is the northern terminus of the Trans-Cameroon Railway to Yaoundé and Douala and lies on the major north-south road from Garoua to Bertoua and Yaoundé; by those routes it exports livestock and

Myanmar: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing: …or in the form of ngapi, a sort of nutritional paste that is prepared in a variety of ways and eaten as a condiment. Marine fisheries are not well developed, although the industry’s reported commercial catch is much greater than that reported from inland waters. Much private, noncommercial fishing is…

totemism: Iban: …of their protector spirit (ngarong).

Battle of Ngasaunggyan, (1277), Mongol defeat of Burmese troops that led to the demise of the Pagan dynasty of Myanmar (Burma). After unifying China, the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan sent envoys to neighbouring kingdoms, obliging them to accept Mongol vassalage. The Pagan king Narathihapate (reigned

Āpirana Ngata was a political and cultural leader of the Māori community in New Zealand. He was a major force behind the improvement of government policy toward the Māori in the early 20th century. Earning his law degree in 1897, Ngata became the first Māori graduate of a New Zealand university and

Āpirana Ngata was a political and cultural leader of the Māori community in New Zealand. He was a major force behind the improvement of government policy toward the Māori in the early 20th century. Earning his law degree in 1897, Ngata became the first Māori graduate of a New Zealand university and

Micronesian culture: High-island and low-island cultures: Ngatik—show closer cultural relationships to the people of Pohnpei than to any other large population but are clearly distinct from them. The Hall Islands, atolls to the north of Chuuk, and the Mortlock (Nomoi) Islands, atolls to the south, are culturally closest to Chuuk. The…

Mount Ruapehu: …the park, the others being Ngauruhoe (7,503 feet [2,287 metres]) and Tongariro (6,453 feet [1,967 metres]). These mountains form the centre of one of New Zealand’s major ski resorts. Ruapehu was first climbed to its highest point by J. Park, C. Dalin, and W.H. Dunnage in 1886.

Central African Republic: Relief, drainage, and soils: …4,350 feet (1,326 metres) at Mount Ngaya near the border with Sudan. In the southeast is a plain cut by a number of rivers.

Comoros: Relief, drainage, and soils: Grande Comore is the largest and loftiest island. It rises near its southern end in an active volcano, Mount Karthala, which, at 7,746 feet (2,361 metres), is the country’s highest point. Karthala has erupted more than a dozen times in the past two centuries. The…

African art: Northwest cultural area: The Ngbaka and the Ngbandi are the peoples whose sculptures are of major significance in the northwest area. There is no single Ngbaka sculptural style: at times the figures are fleshy and rounded; at other times they are considerably more angular. Small animal figures are used…

Ngbandi, a people of the upper Ubangi River in southern Central African Republic and northern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ngbandi speak a language of the Adamawa-Ubangi subgroup of the Niger-Congo language family that is related to that of neighbouring Banda and Gbaya. Ngbandi is a term

Guang, a people of northern Ghana who speak a variety of Kwa languages of the Niger-Congo language family. They are descendants of a trading nation (usually called Gonja) founded in the 16th century, and they now constitute a chiefdom in the Northern region of Ghana, in the area above the

star cluster: Globular clusters: The cluster designated 47 Tucanae (NGC 104), with an absolute visual magnitude of −9.42 at a similar distance of 14,700 light-years, has a different appearance with strong central concentration. It is located near the Small Magellanic Cloud but is not connected with it. For an observer situated at…

Pleiades, (catalog number M45), open cluster of young stars in the zodiacal constellation Taurus, about 440 light-years from the solar system. It contains a large amount of bright nebulous material and more than 1,000 stars, of which six or seven can be seen by the unaided eye and have figured

star cluster: Open clusters: 5 billion years old, and NGC 188 in Cepheus is 6.5 billion years of age. The oldest known open cluster, Collinder 261 in the southern constellation of Musca, is 8.9 billion years old.

Crab Nebula, (catalog numbers NGC 1952 and M1), probably the most intensely studied bright nebula, in the constellation Taurus, about 6,500 light-years from Earth. Roughly 10 light-years in diameter, it is assumed to be the remnant of a supernova (violently exploding star) observed by Chinese and

Orion Nebula, (catalog numbers NGC 1976 and M 42), bright diffuse nebula, faintly visible to the unaided eye in the sword of the hunter’s figure in the constellation Orion. The nebula lies about 1,350 light-years from Earth and contains hundreds of very hot (O-type) young stars clustered about a

star cluster: Clusters in external galaxies: NGC 206 (OB 78) is the richest star cloud in M31, having a total mass of 200,000 suns and bearing a strong resemblance to the double cluster in Perseus. Some globular clusters have been found around the dwarf elliptical companions to M31, NGC 185, and…

Tarantula Nebula, (catalog number NGC 2070) immense ionized-hydrogen region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way system (in which Earth is located). The nebula consists of a cloud of interstellar gas—principally hydrogen—lit from within by young, hot stars that ionize

Andromeda Galaxy, (catalog numbers NGC 224 and M31), great spiral galaxy in the constellation Andromeda, the nearest large galaxy. The Andromeda Galaxy is one of the few visible to the unaided eye, appearing as a milky blur. It is located about 2,480,000 light-years from Earth; its diameter is

R Monocerotis, (catalog number NGC 2261), stellar infrared source and nebula in the constellation Monoceros (Greek: Unicorn). The star, one of the class of dwarf stars called T Tauri variables, is immersed in a cloud of matter that changes in brightness erratically, reflecting or re-radiating

M81 group: …associated with the spiral galaxy NGC 2403. These two subgroups are moving toward each other. The total mass of the M81 group has been determined from the motion of galaxies within it to be 1012 solar masses. M81 has a mass of 6.7 × 1011 solar masses.

Praesepe, (catalog numbers NGC 2632 and M 44), open, or galactic, cluster of about 1,000 stars in the zodiacal constellation Cancer and located about 550 light-years from Earth. Visible to the unaided eye as a small patch of bright haze, it was first distinguished as a group of stars by Galileo. It

Eta Carinae, peculiar red star and nebula about 7,500 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Carina and now known to be a binary star system. It is one of a small class of stars called luminous blue variables. The English astronomer Sir Edmond Halley noted it in 1677 as a star of