- This page contains various interesting facts I have learned along the way.
- Polaris (Wikipedia)
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinized to Alpha Ursae Minoris) and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that fluctuates around 1.98, it is the brightest star in the constellation and is readily visible to the naked eye at night. The position of the star lies less than 1° away from the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star. The stable position of the star in the Northern Sky makes it useful for navigation.
- Mosquitoes prefer to feed on people with type O blood, an abundance of skin bacteria, high body heat, and pregnant women.
- Along their respective orbits around the Milky Way, Beta Aurigae and the Sun are closing in on each other, so that in around one million years it will become the brightest star in the night sky.
- The Beta Aurigae system is believed to be a stream member of the Ursa Major Moving Group.
- Approximately 1.7 billion years ago, natural nuclear fission reactors were generating power in what is now Oklo, Gabon.
- At home on his deathbed, unable to speak owing to cancer that had metastasized, Huxley made a written request to his wife Laura for “LSD, 100 μg, intramuscular.” According to her account of his death in This Timeless Moment, she obliged with an injection at 11:20 a.m. and a second dose an hour later; Huxley died aged 69, at 5:20 p.m. PST on 22 November 1963.
- Yellowknife (/ˈjɛloʊnaɪf/; Dogrib: Sǫǫ̀mbak’è) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada.