- Mineralogy (opengeology.org)
Minerals are our planet. They form the Earth and the bedrock that we live on, making up all of Earth’s rocks and sediments, and they are important components in soils. So, they literally are the foundations for our lives. Perhaps because they are ubiquitous, most people don’t even notice them or consider that all rock is made of minerals. But, engineers do because building a bridge or other structure on unstable material, or using poor ingredients for construction of all sorts, would lead to disasters. And, farmers care about minerals because healthy soils produce great crops. Petrologists who study rocks of all sorts need to know about minerals. And others who use resources in manufacturing need minerals. So, the world’s people rely on minerals. And, minerals, mineral production, and the study of minerals are absolutely essential to maintain our lifestyles.
- Altair (stars.astro.illinois.edu)
ALTAIR (Alpha Aquilae). First magnitude (0.77) Altair, the 12th brightest star in the sky and the Alpha star of Aquila the Eagle, is also the southern anchor of the famed Summer Triangle, which it makes with Vega and Deneb.
- Altair (Wikipedia)
Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila and the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinised from α Aquilae and abbreviated Alpha Aql or α Aql. Altair is an A-type main-sequence star with an apparent visual magnitude of 0.77 and is one of the vertices of the Summer Triangle asterism; the other two vertices are marked by Deneb and Vega. It is located at a distance of 16.7 light-years (5.1 parsecs) from the Sun. Altair is currently in the G-cloud—a nearby interstellar cloud, an accumulation of gas and dust.
