The Latin name for the Large Magellanic Cloud.

The Latin name for the Small Magellanic Cloud.

The making of chemical elements by means of naturally occurring nuclear reactions. Nucleosynthesis takes place in the interiors of stars, in supernova explosions and other astrophysical situations where high-energy collisions can take place between atomic nuclei and elementary particles. See also: carbon cycle, r-process, s-process.

The radio astronomy department of the University of Manchester, England. It is located at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire. The main instrument is the 76-metre 250-foot fully steerable dish, known since 1987 as the Lovell Telescope. It was completed in 1957, its construction having been conceived and directed by Bernard Lovell, who had begun radar experiments on the site in 1945 with the hope of detecting cosmic ray showers. An elliptical dish 38 × 25 metres was built in 1964. Since 1980, it has been possible to link the Jodrell Bank telescopes with others at distant sites to form a radio interferometer known as MERLIN.

The second-brightest star in the constellation Sagittarius. It is a B star of apparent magnitude 2.0.

A relatively short-period oscillation superimposed on the precession of the rotation axis of a rotating body under turning forces torque from external gravitational influences. The nutation of the Earth’s axis, a maximum of 15 arc seconds with a period of about 18.6 years, is caused by changes in the Moon’s orbit over this time.

Asteroid 44, diameter 68 km, discovered in 1857 by H. Goldschmidt. It is notable for its high albedo of nearly 40 per cent. It is one of the two large members of the Nysa Hirayama family, the other being 135 Hertha.