- The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation’s first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constitution delineates the national frame and constrains the powers of the federal government. The Constitution’s first three articles embody the doctrine of the separation of powers, in which the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress (Article I); the executive, consisting of the president and subordinate officers (Article II); and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts (Article III). Article IV, Article V, and Article VI embody concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments, the states in relationship to the federal government, and the shared process of constitutional amendment. Article VII establishes the procedure subsequently used by the 13 states to ratify it. The Constitution of the United States is the oldest and longest-standing written and codified national constitution in force in the world.
- Homam (stars.astro.illinois.edu)
HOMAM (Zeta Pegasi). The name really belongs to a pair of stars, Zeta and Xi Pegasi (in Pegasus, the Flying Horse), which together to the ancient Arabs became known (translated from an obscure phrase) as the “lucky stars of the hero,” presumably of the hero Perseus. The name then devolved specifically to third magnitude (3.40) Zeta Pegasi, leaving poor fourth magnitude Xi Peg (which lies just to the northeast of Zeta) nameless.