Zero is the first of ten symbols — the digits — with which we are able to represent any of an infinitude of numbers. Zero is also the first of the numbers which we must represent. Yet zero, first of the digits, was the last to be invented; and zero, first of the numbers, was the last to be discovered.
Constance reid, From Zero to Infinity
- Beehive Cluster (Wikipedia)
The Beehive Cluster (also known as Praesepe (Latin for “manger”, “cot” or “crib”), M44, NGC 2632, or Cr 189), is an open cluster in the constellation Cancer. One of the nearest open clusters to Earth, it contains a larger population of stars than other nearby bright open clusters holding around 1,000 stars. Under dark skies, the Beehive Cluster looks like a small nebulous object to the naked eye, and has been known since ancient times. Classical astronomer Ptolemy described it as a “nebulous mass in the breast of Cancer”. It was among the first objects that Galileo studied with his telescope.
