William Wilson Morgan

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Galaxy clusters like Abell 2744 can act as a natural cosmic lens, magnifying light from more distant, background objects through gravity. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope may be able to detect light from the first stars in the universe if they are gravitationally lensed by such clusters. (astronomy, space exploration, galaxies)

How Fast Is the Universe Expanding?

Where Did the Moon Come From?

solar eclipse, sun, moon, astronomy, space

How Do You Tell the Difference Between Total, Annular, Solar, and Lunar Eclipses?

Arrangement of the phases of the moon in total eclipse with Blood Moon

9 Celestial Omens

1 July 2002: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite reveals a massive solar eruption more than 30 times the Earth's diameter. The eruption formed when a loop of a magnetic field over the surface of the Sun trapped hot gas.

6 Questions About the Sun Answered

Discover

A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England

Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)

11 Banned Books Through Time

Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?

Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that

America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.

10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci

Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army

8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century

Flags That Look Alike

William Wilson Morgan: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Born	January 3, 1906 • Tennessee
Died	June 21, 1994 (aged 88) • Wisconsin
Inventions	MK system
Subjects Of Study	Milky Way Galaxy • spiral arm

Harlow Shapley

American astronomer

Nancy Grace Roman

American astronomer

Bart J. Bok

American astronomer

Galileo

Italian philosopher, astronomer and mathematician

Ken Freeman

Australian astronomer

Jan Oort

Dutch astronomer

Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn

Dutch astronomer

Alvan Graham Clark

American astronomer

Fred L. Whipple

American astronomer

Henry Norris Russell

American astronomer

Edwin Hubble

American astronomer

Vera Rubin

American astronomer

Simon Newcomb

American astronomer and mathematician

George Ellery Hale

American astronomer

Jane Luu

American astronomer

Carl Sagan

American astronomer

Geoffrey Marcy

American astronomer

Neil deGrasse Tyson

American astronomer

Jill Tarter

American astronomer

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin

British-born American astronomer

Quiz

Nicolaus Copernicus. Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer. In 1543 he published, forward proof of a Heliocentric (sun centered) universe. Coloured stipple engraving published London 1802. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium libri vi.

All About Astronomy

Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell.

Faces of Science

View of the Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31, M31).

Astronomy and Space Quiz

William Wilson Morgan: Facts & Related Content

Facts

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