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From today's featured article

Horologium is a constellation of six faintly visible stars in the southern celestial hemisphere. It was first described by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in 1756 and visualized by him as a clock with a pendulum and a second hand. The boundaries of Horologium (literally 'an instrument for telling the hour') were specified in 1922 by the International Astronomical Union, and it has since been one of their designated constellations. All parts of the constellation are visible to observers south of 23°N. The constellation's brightest star – and the only one brighter than an apparent magnitude of 4 – is Alpha Horologii (at 3.85), an ageing orange giant star that has swollen to around 11 times the diameter of the Sun. The long-period variable-brightness star, R Horologii (4.7 to 14.3), has one of the largest variations in brightness known for stars in the night sky visible to the unaided eye. Four star systems in the constellation are known to have exoplanets; one – Gliese 1061 – contains an exoplanet in its habitable zone. (Full article...)

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A. cavernicola

... that the sponge Aplysina cavernicola (pictured) has been used as a model organism to monitor the presence of isotopes such as americium-241 in seawater?
... that actor Charlie Condou was offered the role of Ben Sherwood in Holby City without an audition?
... that when the Third Avenue/125th Street Line was extended across Manhattan, it was celebrated with a seven-day carnival in Harlem?
... that Enderby Jackson, the founder of the traditional British brass band contest, was born to be a tallow chandler?
... that if climate sensitivity is on the high end of scientists' estimates, it may be impossible to achieve the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to below 2.0 °C (3.6 °F)?
... that students at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, asked for President Clyde A. Lynch's name to be removed from a memorial hall as it reminded them of lynching?
... that the Fulham Pottery, founded in London in 1672, operated for over 300 years?
... that United States Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens cited political scientist Kristin Goss in a case related to gun control?

In the news

Coronavirus pandemic

Southeastern US severe weather

At least thirty people are killed in a tornado outbreak (satellite image shown) in the Southeastern United States.
The High Court of Australia quashes the conviction of Cardinal George Pell for child sex abuse and orders his acquittal.
Cyclone Harold impacts the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga, killing at least thirty people.

On this day

April 15: Day of the Sun in North Korea

Notre-Dame de Paris, with its spire and roof aflame

1071 – Byzantine–Norman wars: After a siege of almost three years, Italo-Norman forces conquered the city of Bari, the capital of the Catepanate of Italy, ending more than five centuries of Byzantine presence in the region.
1802 – English poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy encountered a "long belt" of daffodils while walking around Ullswater in the Lake District, inspiring him to pen his best-known work, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud".
1994 – At a GATT ministerial meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, representatives of 123 countries and the European Communities signed an agreement to establish the World Trade Organization.
2019 – A fire (pictured) severely damaged the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, destroying the building's timber spire and much of its roof.

Robert Persons (d. 1610)
Stanley Bruce (b. 1883)
Greta Garbo (d. 1990)

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Today's featured picture

Paisley Abbey is a parish church of the Church of Scotland, located in the centre of the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire, about 12 miles (19 km) west of Glasgow. Saint Mirin founded a community here in the 7th century, and a priory was established in 1163. A succession of fires and the collapse of the tower during the 15th and 16th centuries left the building in a partially ruined state. From 1858 to 1928, the north porch and the eastern choir were reconstructed on the remains of the ruined walls.

This photograph shows the interior of Paisley Abbey, looking eastwards from the transept towards the choir, with the high altar and the great east window visible in the background and the organ on the right.

Photograph credit: Colin

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