Bombardment of Cherbourg

The bombardment of Cherbourg took place on June 25, 1944, during World War II, when ships from the United States Navy and the British Royal Navy attacked German fortifications in and near the city, firing in support of U.S. Army units that were engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg. In doing so, the Allied naval forces engaged in a series of duels with coastal batteries and provided close support to infantry as they fought to gain control of the city. The bombardment was initially scheduled to last just two hours but it was later extended by an hour to support army units attempting to breaking into Cherbourg's city streets. After the bombardment, German resistance lasted until June 29, when the port was eventually captured by the Allies. Afterwards, the task of clearing the port for use lasted several weeks.
When the Allies managed to secure a bridgehead after the Normandy landings, the Germans adopted a strategy to bottle up the Allied forces in Normandy and deny them the nearest major port at Cherbourg to starve them of supplies. By mid-June U.S. infantry had sealed off the Cotentin Peninsula, but their advance had stalled and the Germans began to demolish the port's facilities. In response, the Allies renewed their efforts to capture the city, and by June 20 three infantry divisions under General "Lightning Joe" Collins had advanced within a mile of German lines defending Cherbourg. Two days later, the general assault began and on June 25, a large naval task force began a concentrated bombardment of the town to help neutralize the threat of German coastal artillery and to provide support to the assaulting infantry.
The task force was divided into two groups, each consisting of a variety of warships including battleships, cruisers, destroyers and minesweepers. Each ship was assigned a series targets inland with orders to duel with batteries which engaged them. German fires were accurate out to , and in some cases they were able to bracket the radically maneuvering ships. Several Allied ships were holed, but faulty ammunition hampered German efforts. In several encounters, after being hit the heavy ships were able to withdraw after Allied destroyers obscured them with smoke.
After the action, Allied reports agreed that the most effective aspect of the bombardment was the fire that was provided by the small ships. Under the direction of army spotters, these ships were able to engage point targets up to inland, which proved invaluable in providing close support to the assaulting Allied infantry. In contrast, while the force's heavy guns disabled 22 of 24 assigned navy targets, they were unable to destroy any of them and, consequently, infantry assaults were required to ensure that the guns could not be reactivated. When the city fell, the neutralized casemated guns, which the Germans could have turned inland towards advancing Allied troops, were still aimed out to sea.
Background.
Once German commanders assessed the Allied assault at Normandy as the primary invasion, they sought to limit the lodgment while they prepared a counter-offensive. To preserve naval assets, the Cherbourg-based German E-boats were transferred to Saint-Malo. Four destroyers from Brest made for Cherbourg to follow the E-boats, but they were sunk or disabled. By June 14, the Germans were attempting to deny the Allies use of Cherbourg's major port facility by blocking, mining and demolishing its harbor. The violent English Channel storm that thrashed apart the artificial port Mulberry A raged until June 22. Logistic movement ashore was temporarily crippled, and the Allies desperately needed Cherbourg's port in their possession.
From June 18 the Cotentin Peninsula was sealed off by Allied infantry, but the German line was stabilized and the American advance stalled. Cherbourg held a garrison of 40,000 with a new commander (as of June 23), "Generalleutnant" Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben. Hitler believed that the Allied invasion would fail without Cherbourg, and ordered it made impregnable, awarding it "fortress" status. The American ground forces would lose over 2,800 dead and 13,500 wounded conquering it.
The Germans had emplaced coastal guns in and around Cherbourg in twenty casemated batteries—fifteen were or greater, and three were . There were many guns, some of which could be trained inland towards advancing infantry. To support the ground assault, Rear Admiral Morton Deyo began putting together a naval bombardment plan on June 15. While planning went forward, a late June storm raged in the English Channel, scattering Deyo's task force out to open sea and into British ports; they reassembled in Portland Harbour, Dorset. On the Cotentin Peninsula, the U.S. Army VII Corps advance, after some progress, was stalled by entrenched German resistance. The proposed naval bombardment was complicated, because the advance of the 9th, 79th and 4th Divisions had brought them within a mile of the city. An army liaison officer aboard representing General "Lightning Joe" Collins (VII Corps) expedited communications between different services and commands. The navy-only operation with a three-hour bombardment was shortened to ninety minutes. The targets were limited to those chosen by the army.
Combined Task Force.
To support the Allied advance over the Cotentin Peninsula and their planned assault on the German fortifications, on June 25, 1944, a bombarding force (CTF 129, Twelfth Fleet) was organized under the command of Rear Admiral Morton Deyo, USN. It was to suppress coastal batteries that the Germans might turn on advancing infantry, and support infantry calls for fire. The navy was additionally tasked to coordinate with the army air force bombers to interdict ammunition resupply and, as infantry closed, follow direction from spotter planes.
Battle Groups 1 and 2.
The task force was divided into two divisions: Battle Group 1 and Battle Group 2. Battle Group 1, under Deyo's command, was assigned to bombard Cherbourg, the inner harbor forts, and the area west towards the Atlantic. Group 1 consisted of the battleship , the cruisers , , , and , and six destroyers: (flag), , , , , and . Rear Admiral Carleton Fanton Bryant's smaller Battle Group 2 was assigned "Target 2", the Battery Hamburg, which was located near Fermanville, inland from Cape Levi, east of Cherbourg. "Nevada" in Group 1 was to use its main battery to silence what was described as "the most powerful German strongpoint on the Cotentin Peninsula". Battle Group 2 would then complete the destruction, and pass westward to join Deyo's group. Bryant's Group 2 consisted of the battleships , , and five destroyers. These were (flag), , , (pennant), and .
Air and naval support.
To clear the path to the shore for the task force, US Minesweeping Squadron 7 and the British 9th Minesweeping Flotilla were tasked with sweeping lanes ahead of them for mines. Channel “L” was extended beyond the extent used for D-Day landings along east and north coasts of Cherbourg to protect Task Force 129 closing in for bombardment. The minesweepers repeatedly came under fire from shore batteries during their operations. During the bombardment, as the batteries were silenced, minesweepers cleared channels towards the harbor seaward from the 10 fathom line. Overhead, General "Pete" Quesada's IX Army Air Force was tasked with providing fighter cover. Additional aircraft provided antisubmarine and combat air patrols. Grumman TBF Avengers of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, supplemented an additional British six-destroyer anti-submarine screen and the British 159th Minesweeping Flotilla.
Fire control measures.
As a result of pre-bombardment concerns by ground commanders, all planned long-range shots on seaward batteries were cancelled and it was decided that only call fires would be delivered. Inter-service negotiations made three batteries dedicated navy targets and added any batteries firing on the ships. The ships were to have spotter planes over Cherbourg targets. During ship approaches from 09:40 until 12:00 they were to fire only if fired on. Infantry fire-coordination was provided in the air and on the ground. P-38 Lightnings of the IX Army Air Force flew from southern England for naval combat air patrol, fighter-bomber strikes and on-call close support of the infantry. Collins, commanding VII Corps, arranged for shore fire control parties to join infantry units as they approached German fortified objectives.
During the Normandy landings the standard operating procedure for "Shore Fire Control Parties" (SFCP) called for nine per infantry division. A naval gunfire liaison officer was attached to each regimental fire control center. A naval gunfire officer was attached to each divisional headquarters in charge of all shore parties in his division.
Every firing ship was provided with an army artillery officer to maintain current information about the position of Allied troops, and to determine whether to fire at any given target at the time. The army liaison officer decided the safety of firing at each target, while the "ship itself controlled the fire." The SFCP observed the fall of shot and corrected fire with a clock code. "In all cases, it was the responsibility of the ship to determine whether any given shoot would endanger allied personnel or positions." This was possible because each bombarding ship was provided with an army officer who tracked positions of Allied forces ashore.
Air spotters operated in pairs, one as a spotter, one as an escort, each capable of both missions. Each pair could communicate with one another and with the same ships. Every bombarding ship was provided radio capability to communicate with all varieties of aircraft radios. The third method of fire control involved a combination of air to ground to sea communication. "Army Air Observation" planes spotted for a control party on the ground. They relayed the information to the ships taking fire missions.
Bombardment.
Initial stages.
At 09:40, Group 1 made landfall, about north of Cherbourg. Leading minesweepers cleared approach channels for both battle groups with Group 2's column steaming parallel several miles to the east. They arrived into the seaward fire support areas without being fired on or receiving any calls for fire. As noon passed at eight bells, the task force plodded towards the in-shore fire support areas at the minesweepers’ speed. German salvos from a village west of Cherbourg at Querqueville began falling among the deployed minesweeper flotillas. Four British Fairmile C motor gun boats began making a smoke screen for the approaching minesweepers. HMS "Glasgow" and with Spitfire spotters began returning fire on the German batteries firing on the minesweepers. In just thirty minutes, every minesweeper had been straddled with battery fire, though none were hit. Deyo recalled them, and they would lay-to out of range for the rest of the action.
At 09:55, Bryant's Group 2 entered Fire Support Area 2. Spotter planes for "Texas" and "Arkansas" were on target, ready to open fire, and operation plans called for "Nevada" to begin firing on Target 2, Battery Hamburg. Deyo's flash message surprised Bryant cancelling "Nevada"s long-range bombardment, postponing his open-firing until noon at shore request or in self-defense, and Group 2 was to join Group 1 by noon.
American troops had overrun two smaller targets, and spotters described them as "surrounded by dead Germans". The strong currents off Normandy slowed the battleships behind minesweepers drifting off course in the current. "Arkansas" established radio contact with its shore fire control party, closed range to and opened fire on Battery Hamburg with her antiquated fire control system. "Texas" could not connect with her shore party and so stayed in line with the minesweepers. "Arkansas"s salvos did no damage, so as Group 2 steamed into the battery's arc of fire, the German guns were able to fire. The minesweepers were all bracketed. The destroyer "Barton" was holed with a ricochet dud from another battery that landed in her aft diesel room. She returned fire on the disclosed battery without air or shore spotting. All minesweepers were splashed with near misses. The destroyer "Laffey" took a dud in her port bow by the anchor. The damage control party pried it loose and tossed it overboard.
Group 2 now began firing generally at Battery Hamburg, which was obscured by smoke. "Texas" was straddled by three rounds at her bow, swung starboard with full right rudder, and missed three shells over her stern. Maneuvering, she was straddled at intervals of twenty to thirty seconds by a newly uncovered battery just northeast of Battery Hamburg. The large battery itself was focusing on minesweepers and destroyers. The destroyer "O'Brien" was hit at her bridge, knocking out her radar, and so sailed out to sea through a smoke screen blind. Minesweepers and the three damaged destroyers were recalled, the destroyers firing their guns as harassing fire until out of range.
At 12:20, Group 1 destroyers laid smoke to protect the heavy ships in Fire Support Area 3, then closed nearer to the shore to gain more effective fire on the Querqueville battery. German fire concentrated on HMS "Glasgow" and "Enterprise", hitting "Glasgow" twice, but she was able to rejoin. After two hours of dueling, all four German guns were temporarily neutralized. Air spot followed the operations at the landing beaches. Pairs of Spitfires, including pilots off the heavy ships, were to loiter 45 minutes over their target. Only half were able to reach the area, the others were driven off by flak, turned away with engine trouble, or could not navigate to the target assignment. Soon after, "Texas" was struck by a German shell which hit the top of the ship's armored conning tower. The shell did not penetrate the armor but did explode, ripping up the deck of the bridge. The helmsman of the ship, a 21-year-old Quartermaster 3rd Class Christen Norman Christensen, was centered directly below the blast and was killed, the first and last combat fatality to occur on board. The captain, then Captain Charles Adams Baker, was outside the bridge when the ship was hit and escaped the blast unharmed. Soon after the order was given to abandon bridge and the surviving members made it down to the armored conning tower to continue the battle.
At 12:12, the first call for fire came in from VII Corps shore fire control parties. Following their corrections, "Nevada" and "Quincy" took out the fortified target in 25 minutes. They continued with targets of opportunity for about three hours. "Tuscaloosa" was distributing its fire among targeted strong points directed by shore fire control, when flak hit its two Spitfires and they were forced to retire. In the first hour, "Ellyson" identified coastal battery fire nearby the town of Gruchy. "Glasgow" and her air spot silenced it with 54 rounds. The destroyer "Emmons" answered the fire on Fort De l'Est on one of the harbor breakwaters, but by the time the target was silenced, a well camouflaged battery began walking fire closer to the ship operating from a range of . "Rodman" dropped smoke, and "Emmons" withdrew.
Extension of the bombardment.
At 13:20, ten minutes before the agreed to ending of the bombardment, Deyo, seeing that the mission was not accomplished, signaled VII Corps, "Do you wish more gunfire? Several enemy batteries still active." The Querqueville battery had come to life again and taken "Murphy" under fire, straddling the destroyer four times in twenty minutes. "Tuscaloosa" came to her aid, scoring a direct hit bringing flames. With her deck covered with splinters and splashes from near misses, "Murphy" dodged behind a smoke screen. "Ellyson" and "Gherardi" joined in. "Quincy" fired for half an hour, then "Nevada" silenced the battery again. Later, as the task force withdrew, the battery opened fire again. More than its endurance, the task force upper decks noted its long day of near-misses. The battery near Gruchy came to life again. HMS "Glasgow" and "Rodman" returned fire. The batteries in and around Cherbourg seemed able to fire accurately at any ship within "Rodman" pulled out of range.
Navy men had been assigned to army units as shore party spotters to direct all fire more than inland. The infantry support fires could then safely reach along roads far inland, blowing German tanks into "scrap". Pillboxes were "powdered" and gun emplacements "tossed skyhigh". German shore batteries were in turn laying well placed fire, churning the seas with near misses bracketing Deyo's ships.
In Group 2, making westward to join Group 1, "Texas" was radically steering to dodge near-misses and straddles when one of the German 280 mm shells struck the hull and lodged alongside a sailor's bunk, but it too was a dud. At 13:35, one of the large caliber guns in Battery Hamburg was knocked out by "Texas", and she and "Arkansas" continued through the afternoon firing at Battery Hamburg and another nearby battery. When they strayed back into the arc of fire, Battery Hamburg's three remaining guns made "Texas" a target, and a nearby 105 mm battery acquired "Arkansas". Both ships maneuvered, the two remaining destroyers made smoke, and all escaped with no damage.
At 14:02 VII Corps replied to Deyo, "Thanks very much—we should be grateful if you would continue until 15:00." VII Corps was on the verge of breaking into Cherbourg's city streets. Fort des Flamand at the eastern end of the inner breakwater, had eight dual-purpose 88-mm guns holding up a regiment of the 4th Division. Shore fire control called for naval support, and "Hambleton" began firing, but large-caliber rounds from Battery Hamburg began to drop around her at . She retired, then "Quincy" was able to silence the target fort. "Nevada" turned from Battery Hamburg and joined in the attack on targets on the west side of Cherbourg that might have turned landward on advancing infantry. For over twenty minutes she was repeatedly straddled, including two that holed her superstructure and another that missed as close as .
An hour later, following Collins' new deadline of 15:00, Deyo ordered cease fire and began withdrawing from the bombardment area. Group 2 headed back to Portland, England, at 15:01. Flagship "Tuscaloosa" took another call for fire. The targets were 75 mm field guns in casemates, on the dock at the entrance to Cherbourg's naval arsenal. "Tuscaloosa" continued firing as she maneuvered out to sea, at and again out a further mile and a half with accuracy (25,414 m).
Outcomes.
On June 29, as the final German resistance in Cherbourg was overcome, Collins wrote to Deyo, stating that during the "naval bombardment of the coastal batteries and the covering strong points around Cherbourg ... results were excellent, and did much to engage the enemy's fire while our troops stormed into Cherbourg from the rear." After an inspection of the port defenses, an army liaison officer reported that the guns that had been targeted could not be reactivated, and those that could have been turned landward were still pointed out to sea when the city had fallen.
While reports taken from German prisoners speak of the terror they experienced from the bombardment, there is no evidence that naval gun fire caused great destruction to the German guns. As a result of the non-destruction of the guns, infantry had to be used to capture them. Nevertheless, the naval gunfire was effective in neutralizing the German batteries, disabling 22 of their 24 assigned targets, and during the bombardment there were long periods during which German gun positions fell silent. This was later attributed to the demoralizing effect that they had on the German gunners, rather than a destructive effect on the guns. The fire support provided by the task force's small ships proved to be more effective, and according to Allied reports after the bombardment this was the most effective aspect of the bombardment.
The volume of fire was notable and of consequence. The Allied Supreme Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower later wrote, "the final assault was materially assisted by heavy and accurate naval gunfire." von Schlieben reported to "Generalfeldmarschall" Erwin Rommel that further resistance had been useless due in part to "heavy fire from the sea", while Admiral Theodor Krancke recorded for his war diary, that one of the contributing causes to Cherbourg's fall was a "naval bombardment of a hitherto unequalled fierceness." German reports of the effect of naval bombardment were broadcast over the German telegraph service in the "German Military Journal". According to these reports, the Allied naval fire curtain was one of their trump cards and in a crisis, it was more accurate and it could be sustained on target, fulfilling the role of a floating artillery arm. The reports also discuss the role of the smaller Allied vessels, remarking that they had firepower that should not be underestimated: "a torpedo boat ... had the firepower of a howitzer battery, a destroyer that of a battery of artillery." The reports go on to compare a cruiser to a regiment of artillery and state that battleships with 38 to 40-cm guns had no equal in land warfare, and could only be matched "by an unusual concentration of very heavy batteries."
The German report said that Allied troops had a "particular advantage" from ship formations that provided the mobility to concentrate artillery on any point on the battlefield, and then change their placement to whatever the fighting required. The Anglo-American naval forces made "...the best possible use of this opportunity." A single coastal battery could come repeatedly under "...quite extraordinary superior fire-power." A multiple type formation of warships would concentrate fire at batteries when they were the focal point of combat, creating an "umbrella of fire (Feuerglocke)."
"Generalfeldmarschall" Gerd von Rundstedt assessed Allied naval gun fire support as "flexible and well directed ...[in] ...support of the land troops ... ranging from battleship to gun boat ... as quickly mobile, constantly available artillery, at points ... as defense against our [German] attacks or as support for [Allied] attacks." He added that they were skillfully directed by air and ground spotters, and that the Allied naval gunnery had a high rapid-fire capacity at range.
German batteries were unsuccessful engaging ships of the Task Force, in that ships holed and bracketed with near misses were not sunk; the maneuvering ships were able to maintain positions in mineswept lanes for the most part, and countermeasures included use of smoke, jamming German radar and effective counter battery fires. Nevertheless, U.S. naval doctrine was modified after the operation. More attention was paid to the achievement of effective long range fire. According to Admiral Bertram Ramsay, Naval Commander in Chief of the Allied Naval Expeditionary Force, if the German gunners had not been hampered by faulty ammunition, "they might well have inflicted heavy damage to ...[the Allied] ...ships at the relatively close range ..." Prior to June 1944, the United States Navy's main experiences in the war had been in the Mediterranean and the Pacific. According to naval historian Samuel Morison, these experiences had resulted in an assumption that the modern fire control systems on U.S. ships allowed them to close with and defeat coastal batteries at will. But in the Mediterranean the shore batteries had not been "well and resolutely" served, and Japanese coastal defense gunners had been inadequately trained. As a result of the Cherbourg operation, Morison concluded that, even with modern directors for naval gunnery, a casemated gun is "exceedingly difficult for a rapidly maneuvering warship to destroy with a direct hit, although a shower of salvos around the coast defense position will silence the guns temporarily." Deyo's after-action report recommended that long-range bombardment with plane spotting would be required to silence casemated batteries, stating that either good air spot or shore parties are required for effective naval bombardment, especially when strong currents add to the navigational problems of a task force under accurate shore battery fire.


Ike Atkinson

Leslie "Ike" Atkinson (November 19, 1925 – November 11, 2014) was a US Army master sergeant and convicted drug trafficker, believed to have been a major figure in smuggling heroin into the United States from Southeast Asia from about 1968 to 1975.
Criminal career.
Atkinson moved to Bangkok, Thailand in the mid-1960s and became a partner in Jack's American Star Bar. In 1968, he entered into the drug trade from the Golden Triangle through a Chinese Thai man named Luchai Rubiwat, who was a business partner in Atkinson's bar. Atkinson and his organization bought heroin at about US$4000 a kilogram before being cut four ways and transporting it to the United States by military personnel. Flown on US Air Force aircraft, the heroin would eventually arrive at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and other military bases and be sold to American distributors for US$100,000 a kilo, netting a profit of about US$96,000 per kilo.
Atkinson's downfall came in 1975. A shipment of heroin was due to arrive at two addresses in Fayetteville, North Carolina, each belonging to elderly black women. An Army serviceman would come to pick up the shipments, saying it had been accidentally mailed to the wrong address. The plan had worked before, but this time one woman contacted the postal authorities; the other, fearing she had been sent a bomb, contacted the police. The police found Atkinson's palm prints on one of the heroin bags, and he was arrested on January 19, 1975 in his home in Goldsboro. He was convicted the following year and was sentenced to 31 years in prison. Atkinson was released in 2007.
Relationship to Frank Lucas.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Atkinson was in fact the main supplier of heroin to Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas after the two met in Bangkok around 1974. Atkinson takes issue with the most famous aspect of Lucas' operation, the so-called "Cadaver Connection" in which heroin was smuggled in the coffins of dead American soldiers coming back from Vietnam, instead claiming he smuggled the drugs inside furniture.
In the film "American Gangster" (2007), Atkinson is represented by the character Nate, played by Roger Guenveur Smith. The film depicts Nate as being Lucas' cousin (Actually the film confirms that Ike was once married to one of Frank's cousins. Frank just calls him cousin, but at one of the scenes, Ike says to a contact in Bangkok "I'm his cousin" and then adds "I was married to his cousin"): However, Frank Lucas claimed that Ike is married to one of his cousins, which made him akin to family.
Cadaver Connection.
The "Cadaver Connection" was a supposed heroin smuggling operation involving hiding heroin in the American serviceman's coffins. Frank Lucas, one of Ike's partners in the US, claims that this is how Ike smuggled the narcotic out of Thailand:
But Atkinson who used his lifelong friend Leon as the carpenter claims he never used coffins to smuggle the heroin, "It is a total lie that's fueled by Frank Lucas for personal gain. I never had anything to do with transporting heroin in coffins or cadavers."
Prison and release.
Atkinson was charged in 1987, while in prison, for his part in another heroin smuggling operation which he was allegedly running from prison. He was charged following a 15-month investigation where an undercover agent, posing as a corrupt German diplomat bought five pounds of heroin on Atkinson's behalf in Thailand. Six other inmates and a correctional officer were also charged. The CO, Samuel Arrante, 36, was charged because he was smuggling the letters out of prison to prevent the authorities from reading the letters. Also charged was Mr. Atkinson's nephew, Philip Wade Atkinson, 40, who bought the heroin from the undercover German diplomat at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where he was immediately arrested. Atkinson was released from prison in 2007, and died in November 2014 at the age of 88.


General der Luftnachrichtentruppe

General der Luftnachrichtentruppe (en: "General of air force communications troops") was a General of the branch rank of the Deutsche Luftwaffe (en: German Air Force) in Nazi Germany. Until the end of World War II in 1945, this particular general officer rank was on three-star level (OF-8), equivalent to a US Lieutenant general.
The "General of the branch" ranks of the Luftwaffe were in 1945:
The rank was equivalent to the General of the branch ranks of the "Heer" (army) as follows:
The rank was also equivalent to the German three-star ranks:


Stones River Union order of battle

The following Union Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Stones River of the American Civil War. The Confederate order of battle is listed separately. Order of battle compiled from the army organization during the campaign, the casualty returns and the reports.
XIV Corps (Army of the Cumberland).
MG William S. Rosecrans, Commanding
General Staff and Headquarters.
General Staff:
General Headquarters:
Provost Guard:
General Escort:
Right Wing.
MG Alexander McD. McCook
Center.
MG George H. Thomas
Left Wing.
MG Thomas L. Crittenden
Cavalry.
BG David S. Stanley


39th Bavarian Reserve Division

The 39th Royal Bavarian Reserve Division ("39. Kgl. Bayerische Reserve-Division") was a reserve infantry division of the Imperial German Army in World War I. It was raised to division status on October 2, 1914, from an "ad hoc" unit, "Brigade von Rekowski", and named "Division von Rekowski" ("Rekowski's Division"). On December 8, 1914, it was renamed the 39th Reserve Division. As it was heavily made up of Bavarian units, on December 26, 1916, it was again renamed, this time as the 39th Royal Bavarian Reserve Division. It spent the war engaged in positional warfare in the Alsace-Lorraine region. It was dissolved in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after the Armistice.
Order of Battle on November 20, 1914 (Division von Rekowski):
Order of Battle on February 20, 1918:


Insubordinate movement in Spain

The Insubordinate movement (Spanish: "Movimiento insumiso" or "Insumisión", Catalan: "Moviment d'insubmissió", Galician: "Movemento insubmiso", Basque: "Matxinada") was a mass antimilitarist movement of civil disobedience to compulsory military service in Spain, the movement lasting from the early 1980s until the abolition of conscription on 31 December 2001.
History.
The immediate predecessor of insubordination was the movement of conscientious objectors initiated in the last years of the Francoist regime, a movement seeking legal recognition of the right not to perform the, then, compulsory military service on conscience or moral grounds. Objectors, therefore, refused the army, but were nevertheless prosecuted and tried by it, and in many cases ended up in military prisons.
In 1984 the Congreso de los Diputados passed a law on conscientious objection, which recognised the rights of objectors, establishing a civilian service of 18 months, called "Prestación Social Sustitutoria" ("Substitutionary Social Service", PSS), as an alternative to 12 months compulsory military service. The previous objectors were then amnestied and freed from military obligations. A few of them, however, considered that the longer duration of the PSS penalised objectors, amounted to forced labour, and deprived ordinary workers of jobs; they demanded complete abolition of military service. Those objectors therefore rejected the amnesty and returned to Spain apparently ready to be called up.
When the army tried to enlist them again, the so-called "Insumisos" ("insubordinates") refused to join either the army or the PSS. By doing so they committed a crime and were tried again, but the existence of a largely unfavourable public opinion to compulsory military service made the judicial proceedings, especially when the penalty included imprisonment, a considerable political cost for the government.
Refusal to perform military service was punishable under the military penal code, and was part of the jurisdiction of the army, with a minimum penalty of a year in jail. Refusal to perform PSS was punished by the ordinary penal code, with two years, four months and one day in prison.
In subsequent years the number of young people refusing to join the army or, once recognised as conscientious objectors, refused to perform PSS, exponentially increased. If repression of the "insumisos" was difficult, given the broad social support that they had, it was even more difficult when undertaken by the military courts, because the military courts were denounced by antimilitarists as "judge and jury" in the army's own cause, and because the accused were not part of the army, but remained civilians. Also, the adjudication of civilians by military courts and sending them to prison evoked for many the Franco era. Thus, the army asked the government to release it from the task of repressing the insubordination movement, which was finally agreed by the government. From then the "insumisos" were tried by ordinary courts. Despite this, in the first years the ordinary courts continued applying military law. Later the ordinary courts judged the "insumisos" by applying a reformed version of the ordinary penal code that included the crime of refusing to perform military service, with an increased penalty to equate it to that applied for refusing to do PSS.
The Insubordination was a grassroots, nonpartisan and decentralised movement. Despite the nonpartisan character it was supported by several left-wing parties, like the United Left, Herri Batasuna, Republican Left of Catalonia, Galician Nationalist Bloc, Auzolan, Popular Unity Candidates, Socialist Party of Mallorca, Galician Socialist Party-Galician Left, Valencian Nationalist Bloc, Unitarian Candidacy of Workers, Communist Movement, LCR and many others. In all the major cities there were assemblies of "insumisos", co-ordinated with each other in different antimilitarist fora. The most important groups were the Conscientious Objection Movement (MOC), close to the ideas of nonviolence, and a constellation of groups generically called Mili KK, more linked to the extra-parliamentary left, although the dividing lines were never totally clear. Anarchist groups also played an important role in the antimilitarist struggle, promoting most of them total disobedience tactics (such as the CNT, CGT and FIJL organisations). In the late 1980s and the 1990s many antimilitaristic, magazines and groups appeared. On the eve of the disappearance of compulsory military service the number of "insumisos" exceeded the tens of thousands, probably more than the number of "no-insumisos".
Insubordination was mostly a purely antimilitarist movement. There were also, however, people who joined the insubordination for other reasons, especially, in more recent times, people favouring a professional army. One of the most important components of the insubordination movement were the Basque, Catalan, Galician or Canarian nationalists, not necessarily anti-militarist, although the majority were also strong antimilitarists and antiimperialists; that especially applied to the Galicians and Canarians, who denounced the presence of any military force in their respective territories, and routinely protested against them. The Basque Abertzale left also considered the Spanish army an occupation force in the Southern Basque Country, and campaigned for full withdrawal of any Spanish army from Euskadi; who refused to serve in a "Spanish" army. Another reason for insubordination was the popular perception of the Spanish army as a fascist and/or francoist institution, a perception renewed by the various coup attempts in the 1980s, like the 23F in 1981 or the 2J conspiracy in 1985. Some people also opposed military service on religious grounds, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses or some pacifist Christians.
Tactics and strategy.
Regarding the strategy to follow in civil disobedience, there were also different viewpoints:
Those who could not be "insumisos" (for example, men who had already completed military service or women) put up initiatives of "self-incrimination": based on the legal principle that whoever incites someone to commit an offence is also guilty, they signed statements accusing themselves of promoting insubordination. Self-incriminations were generally not accepted by the courts. Many people used self-incriminations to establish an active link with the insubordinate movement, among them prominent intellectuals, politicians, filmmakers, singers, actors and other personalities and celebrities.
The Spanish insubordinate movement was a civil disobedience movement unparalleled in any other European country, its closest precedent in the Western world being the disobedience and insubordination to the Vietnam War in the United States. Attempts to do something similar in other countries, such as Germany and France, failed due to the lack of a social base and popular support. The success of insubordination in Spain has been attributed to an antimilitarist sentiment supposedly rooted in the Spanish society and linked both to the resistance against conscription during the Carlist Wars and during the Rif War between 1909 and 1927, and even some have tried to establish a relationship of this movement to the wide diffusion of anarchism in Spain (a minor phenomenon elsewhere), specially in the first decades of the twentieth century.
Insubordination was one of the main causes of the reduction of military service from 12 to 9 months and, later, of its total abolition. The other main cause was the 1996 pact between the People's Party and the Basque Nationalist Party and Convergence and Union in 1996, that included the disappearance of military service in 2001.
Chronology of the movement.
1937
1960-1970
1970
1971
1972
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Insubordination in popular music.
One of the main ways of propaganda of the Insubordinate movement was music, mainly within the punk scene, but also in pop and pop rock, Metal, Ska and other scenes. Antimilitarist music was very popular among the youth during the campaign against Military Service. Some groups like Negu Gorriak even donated their profits to the movement. Among the most notable songs and hymns are:


55th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)

The 55th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army that saw active service in both World War I and World War II.
History.
First World War.
The brigade was originally raised in 1914, as the 55th Brigade, in the First World War as part of Kitchener's New Armies and joined the 18th (Eastern) Division, serving with it throughout the war mainly on the Western Front from 1915 to 1918.
Second World War.
The brigade was disbanded after the war in 1919. However, it was reformed as the 55th Infantry Brigade in 1939 in the Territorial Army shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and joined the 18th Infantry Division. It remained in the United Kingdom on home defence and training duties, preparing for a possible German invasion which, fortunately, never arrived. The 55th Infantry Brigade, along with the rest of the 18th Division, was sent to Singapore in 1942 where it surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Army in the short but violent Battle of Singapore. The men of the brigade would spend the next three years as Japanese prisoners in harsh and degrading imprisonment.


Order of battle for Operation Nordwind

Operation Nordwind was launched by German ground forces on 31 December 1944 against U.S. and French ground forces in the Rhineland-Palatinate and the Alsace and Lorraine regions of southwestern Germany and northeastern France as part of the European Theatre in World War II. It ended on 25 January 1945.
North of Strasbourg.
Allied Forces
 Sixth Army Group

Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers

"Forces deployed North to South:"
 US Seventh Army

Lieutenant General Alexander McC. Patch
Axis Forces
Army Group G

Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz

First Army

Generalleutnant Hans von Obstfelder
South of Strasbourg (Colmar Pocket).
Allied Forces
 Sixth Army Group (cont.)

Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers

"Forces deployed North to South:"
 French First Army

Lieutenant General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
Axis Forces
Army Group Upper Rhine

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler

Nineteenth Army

General der Infanterie Siegfried Rasp


I Army Corps (Wehrmacht)

I Army Corps (I. Armeekorps) was a corps in the German Army during World War II. It was established by upgrading the former staff of the 1st Division of the Reichsheer at Konigsberg on 1 October 1934.


Serge de Gastyne

Serge Benoist de Gastyne (July 27, 1930 – July 24, 1992) was a French American composer and pianist born in Paris, France. After fighting with the French Resistance forces in World War II, he came to the United States and attended the University of Portland (Oregon), where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1950. He took further studies at the Eastman School of Music and also at the University of Maryland, where he was awarded Master of Music and Doctor of Music Arts degrees.
Biography.
Serge de Gastyne (1930–1992) was born in Paris, France. Early in his teens, de Gastyne fought in the French Underground. He emigrated to the United States in 1947 where his dazzling piano-playing soon won him scholarship grants at the University of Portland and the Eastman School of Music. Between studies he sold encyclopedias, and earned enough to finance a cross-country trip by bus.
In 1952 he enlisted in the Air Force, which decided that it wanted him at the keyboard of a piano, not at the controls of a plane. He was assigned to the Composing and Arranging staff of the Air Force Band in Washington DC.
At Sampson Air Force Base near Rochester, New York (Major General Richard Lindsay commanding), he set out to compose a huge musical "panorama" celebrating the 50th anniversary of powered flight.
His musical compositions include symphonies, operas, and many pieces for band, voice and organ. He won awards for his compositions from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
In 1968 he became a citizen of the United States. After studies at Eastman, he received a Masters and a Doctorate in music from the University of Maryland.
He taught music at Northern Virginia Community College while serving in the Air Force. After retirement, he moved to Gulfport, Mississippi, where he lived for three years before his death on July 24, 1992.
Serge was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Career.
From 1953–1972, Serge was composer-in-residence with the U.S. Air Force Band and Orchestra in Washington, D.C. Concurrently he taught at Northern Virginia Community College, retiring in 1981. Serge was the Artistic Director and Resident Composer for the New Music Orchestra (Capitol Hill).
He wrote well over 100 original compositions, ranging from Chamber and Orchestral pieces (six commissioned Symphonies, a Tone Poem premiered by Leopold Stokowski, etc.), to many vocal works in different languages, compositions for band, "chef d'oeuvre" for organ and many mallet percussion pieces. He also wrote for unusual instrumental combinations of the above, for example, including a significant part for organ in his Symphony No. 4 for Band, reading of poetry in his Symphony No. 6, etc.
Serge's Four Musical Moments and Concerto for Trumpet were premiered by Emerson Head and Roy Hamlin Johnson, both professors of music at the University of Maryland at College Park. Emerson Head also premiered his Grand Duo Concertant at the University of Maryland, College Park.
His symphony, L'Ile Lumiere (Island of Light) was commissioned by Thor Johnson, Director of the Cincinnati Symphony, and performed by the orchestra in its 1956 season.
Serge was instrumental in the creation of the Music Department at the Bailey's Cross Roads campus of Northern Virginia Community College. He wrote seven symphonies as well as his Eclogae for soprano and orchestra.
Because of his professional position with the Air Force Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. he is well known for his American Weekend March, which was commissioned by the American Weekend magazine. In addition, he also completed or collaborated on countless arrangements during his time in the Air Force.
Serge played the French Romantic organ during his early childhood days in Paris, a symphonic sound that generates a blaze of color and majesty in his monumental composition for organ, Cantique de Joie. Serge exuded a generosity of spirit and ruthlessness in equal measure. He was open to share basic aesthetic tenets. In particular, Cantique de Joie displays a spiritual connection. He seems to have a foot in the next world – a creative colossus at the peak of his powers with a particular Catholic spirituality translated into a religious idiom.
Cantique de Joie, Opus 70, was dedicated to Peter Basch and performed by him at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on the V/153 Cavaillé-Coll (modified) in 1973. He wrote of his experience playing there: "The most exciting part for me was the entrance of the pedal triplets mid-way, like a pile driver pumping its way forward, a determined thrust and support to the upperwork that was crashing/exploding, aided by the dissonant chords cutting through the texture with a volcanic bombardment to the victorious final spread. And, that huge organ wrapped itself around me, like a tiger, and I will never, ever forget the entrance of the bombarde division when the console and tribune floor began to vibrate, making me think that I would bring down the entire balcony."
Serge is the subject of a book about himself and his half brother, Guy Geller, during their time under the Nazi regime in France. The book, entitled Here I Am! was written by Serge's mother, Louise Norman, and is available at the Holocaust Museum (Washington, D.C) and on Amazon.


Carter Camp

Carter Camp (August 18, 1941, Pawnee, Oklahoma – December 27, 2013, White Eagle, Oklahoma) (Ponca) was an American Indian Movement activist. Camp played a leading role in the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties that traveled to Washington, DC, where protesters took over the Department of Interior building. Camp was also one of the organizers of the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, to highlight the Lakota desire for sovereignty.
In his later years Camp opposed the construction of the Keystone Pipeline, an oil pipeline proposed from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta to refineries in Illinois and Texas.
Life.
Carter Augustus Camp was born to Woodrow Camp and Jewell McDonald in Pawnee, Oklahoma, on August 18, 1941, the third of six children of the Ponca family. His brothers Craig Camp, Dwain Camp, and Cordell Camp and sister Casey Camp-Horinek survived him. His sister Darlena Overland preceded him in death. His father Woodrow Camp was a union activist.
Camp was sent away to Indian boarding school, under Federal policy intended to "Christianize" Native American children in those years. He graduated in 1959 from the Haskell Institute, now known as Haskell Indian Nations University, in Lawrence, Kansas.
According to his sister Casey Camp-Horinkek, in 1960–1963 Carter served as a corporal in the U.S. Army, stationed in Berlin. He lived in Los Angeles after his discharge, working as an electrician in a factory and serving as shop steward for the union.
He married Linda Carson. They had several children together: Kenny, Jeremy, Victorio, Mazhonaposhe, Ahmbaska, and Augustus.
Becoming politically active, Camp joined the American Indian Movement when it was founded in 1968. He organized the first AIM chapters in Kansas and Oklahoma.
With AIM, he helped lead the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties protest, which led a caravan from the West Coast across the country to Washington, D.C.. During the caravan, Hank Adams wrote the Twenty Points document, which had demands for the federal government. After the caravan reached the capital, activists occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs national headquarters building. They presented the Twenty Points document to top BIA officials.
In 1973, Camp helped organize the occupation of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He led the first group of AIM members as they seized the trading post in the village, cut phone lines, forced Bureau of Indian Affairs staff to leave town, and took eleven hostages. Camp was one of the primary organizers, along with Dennis Banks and Russell Means, and he acted as the action's spokesperson. Camp signed off on the agreement ending the occupancy, although not all his fellow activists did. For his actions, Camp was charged and convicted of "abducting, confining, and beating four postal inspectors." He served three years in prison. Camp's sister, Casey Camp-Horinkek, disputes the charges of the alleged assault.
Camp was elected chair of AIM in 1973, but was expelled shortly afterward after a controversial conflict with fellow AIM leader Clyde Bellecourt.
After his time in AIM, Camp continued his activism. For over twenty years Camp was an organizer and participant in the annual sun dance held in the Rosebud Indian Reservation, along with Leonard Crow Dog. The latter was also one of the Wounded Knee occupiers. Camp also organized and protested against a Lewis and Clark expedition re-enactment and a motorcycle bar near his Oklahoma reservation.
Camp was involved in a variety of environmental actions. He organized support against construction of the Keystone Pipeline, designed to run from the Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta to refineries in Illinois and Texas. He also opposed siting hazardous waste dumps on Native American lands.
Camp died in Oklahoma after a yearlong battle against cancer.


Wauhatchie Confederate order of battle

The following units and commanders fought at the Battle of Wauhatchie of the American Civil War on the Confederate side. The Union order of battle is listed separately. Order of battle compiled from the army organization during the battle, and the reports.
Army of Tennessee.
Longstreet's Corps.
LTG James Longstreet


Sh2-9, also called Gum 65 is combination emission and reflection nebula in the Scorpius constellation, surrounding the multiple star system Sigma Scorpii. The nebula is a few arcminutes to the northeast to Messier 4, and can be easily seen by small telescopes.
Sharpless 9 is a red emission nebula that surrounds the star Sigma Scorpii. It is thought the star Sigma Scorpii, a variable giant star, is ionizing this region. It is also recorded as reflection nebula C130.
This region is noted as both an emission and reflection nebula, although sometimes only one aspect is noted.
The magnitude 1.1 Antares is also relatively nearby to this nebula.
The paper "A 2.3 GHz radio continuum map of the upper Scorpio region" found that one of strongest 2.3 GHz sources in their region of study, which they called Source 4, coincided with Gum 65/Sharpless 9/C140.
There is a radio source on the edge, and it has been proposed this because there is a collision between this nebula and the Dark nebula Kh 527.
Catalogs.
Examples:


Zeta Herculis

Zeta Herculis (ζ Her, ζ Herculis) is a multiple star system in the constellation Hercules. It has a combined apparent visual magnitude of 2.81, which is readily visible to the naked eye. Parallax measurements put it at a distance of about from Earth.
The primary member is a subgiant star that is somewhat larger than the Sun and has just begun to evolve away from the main sequence as the supply of hydrogen at its core becomes exhausted. It is orbited by a smaller companion star at a mean angular separation of 1.5 arcseconds, which corresponds to a physical separation of about 15 Astronomical Units. This distance is large enough so that the two stars do not have a significant tidal effect on each other. The stars orbit each other over a period of 34.45 years, with a semi-major axis of 1.33" and an eccentricity of 0.46.
Component A has a stellar classification of F9 IV. It has about 2.6 times the radius of the Sun and 1.45 times the Sun's mass. This star is radiating more than six times the luminosity of the Sun at an effective temperature of 5,820 K. The secondary component (Component B) is about the same size and mass as the Sun, with an effective temperature of 5,300 K. Both stars are rotating slowly. There may be a faint third member of this system, although little is known about it.
The orbit and other information about the A-B binary is documented within the Washington Double Star Catalog. The magnitude difference between the A-B pair is 1.52 ± 0.04 magnitudes (at 700 nm). Two astrometric studies have failed to detect a third component to the A-B binary.
This system forms part of the Zeta Herculis moving group of stars. This group includes: φ2 Pavonis, ζ Reticuli, 1 Hydrae, Gl 456, Gl 678, and Gl 9079.


Iota Pegasi

ι Pegasi, Latinized as Iota Pegasi is a double-lined spectroscopic binary star system located within the northern constellation of Pegasus, along a line between Lambda and Kappa Pegasi. It is visible to the naked eye as a yellow-hued point of light with a combined apparent visual magnitude of 3.77. The system is located 38.5 light years from the Sun based on parallax, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −5.5 km/s.
The binary nature of this system was discovered by W. W. Campbell in 1899 and the initial orbital elements were estimated by H. D. Curtis in 1904. The primary, designated component Aa, is a yellowish-white star somewhat brighter than the sun. It and the dimmer component Ab orbit each other with a period of about 10 days and an eccentricity of almost zero, meaning they essentially have a circular orbit. They appear to be very young stars, close to zero-age main sequence.
In about four billion years from now, component Aa will evolve off the main sequence into a giant. In the process it will overflow its Roche lobe and begin to transfer mass onto the secondary. This may cause the secondary to acquire enough mass to become the primary component. After both stars have passed through the giant star stage, the end result will be a pair of co-orbiting white dwarfs in about eight billion years.


Xi Leonis

Xi Leonis (ξ Leo, ξ Leonis) is a solitary star in the zodiac constellation of Leo. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 5.1 and is faintly visible to the naked eye. The distance to this star, as determined by parallax measurements, is roughly 216 light years.
This is an evolved, K-type giant star with a stellar classification of K0 III. At an age of around four billion years, it has expanded to 12 times the radius of the Sun and shines with 60 times the Sun's luminosity. The effective temperature of the star's outer atmosphere is 4,688. In the "General Catalogue of Variable Stars", it is listed as a suspected variable star with a maximum magnitude of 4.97.


Neck (Chinese constellation)

The Neck mansion (亢宿, pinyin: Kàng Xiù) is one of the Twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese constellations. It is one of the eastern mansions of the Azure Dragon.
In Chinese Cosmology, the Kang Constellation is associated with the Kidney Organ. 亢 is a picture of a person standing with their legs open, as in horse stance, and so holds the quality of strength that comes through a proper foundation. This matches up with Chapter 8 of the Suwen, which says that the Kidney is in charge of strength and fortification. The Kidney houses the Zhi, which is in charge of solid grounding in one’s life purpose.
Kang is also the neck or throat of the Azure Dragon of the East, which, while the throat area is ruled by the Lung, has everything to do with sound—pointing to the Kidney’s orifice of the ears.
Around the 5th Century BC, it is believed that eclipses would take place in this constellation. This coming together of the Sun and the moon works as a symbol that points towards the ShaoYin relationship of the Kidney and Heart.


54 Cancri

54 Cancri is a star in the zodiac constellation of Cancer. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 6.38, which places it just below the normal brightness limit of stars visible to the naked eye. The annual parallax shift is 24.79 mas as measured from Earth's orbit, which yields a distance estimate of about 132 light years. It is moving away from the Sun with a radial velocity of +45 km/s.
Measurement of the stars proper motion over time suggest changes due to an acceleration component, which may indicate it is a close binary system. The visible component has a stellar classification of G5 V, indicating it is an ordinary G-type main-sequence star that is generating energy through hydrogen fusion in its core region. Hall et al. (2007) classify it as a low-activity variable star. The star is about five billion years old with a projected rotational velocity of 3.1 km/s. It has 1.23 times the mass of the Sun and 1.81 times the Sun's radius.


V373 Cassiopeiae

V373 Cas is a binary star system in the northern constellation Cassiopeia. It is a suspected eclipsing binary with an apparent visual magnitude that decreases from a baseline of 6.03 down to 6.13. The system is located at a distance of approximately 6,200 light years from the Sun, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of around −25.5 km/s.
The binary nature of this system was announced in 1912 by Walter S. Adams. It is a double-lined spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of 13.4 days and an eccentricity of 0.13. The system was found to be variable in 1958 by C. Roger Lynds, and the variability cycle was shown to be related to the orbital period. It has been described as a heartbeat star rather than an eclipsing system. This is a type of pulsating star where the pulsations are induced by the tidal attraction of a close companion.
V373 Cas is composed of two hot blue-white giant stars that have exhausted their core hydrogen and expanded off the main sequence. Lyubimkov and colleagues analysed spectral and radial velocity to calculate that the stars were ~19 and ~15 times as massive as the Sun and the age of the system is around 7-8 million years old. The primary component is the more evolved and now comes close to filling its Roche lobe when it is at periastron.


53 Eridani

53 Eridani (abbreviated 53 Eri), also designated l Eridani (l Eri), is a binary star in the constellation of Eridanus. The system has a combined apparent magnitude of 3.87. Parallax estimates made by the "Hipparcos" spacecraft put it at a distance of about 110 light-years, or 33.7 parsecs, from the Sun.
The two components are designated 53 Eridani A (officially named Sceptrum) and B.
Nomenclature.
"53 Eridani" is the system's Flamsteed designation; "l Eridani" is its Bayer designation. The designations of the two components as "53 Eridani A" and "B" derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for multiple star systems, and adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
53 Eridani bore the traditional name ('scepter'), as it was one of the brighter stars, designated "p Sceptri (Brandenburgici)", in the obsolete constellation of Sceptrum Brandenburgicum. The constellation was coined by Gottfried Kirch to honor the Brandenburg province of Prussia, and although it was later used in other atlases by Johann Elert Bode, the constellation fell out of use. In 2016, the IAU organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN decided to attribute proper names to individual stars rather than entire multiple systems. It approved the name "Sceptrum" for the component 53 Eridani A on 30 June 2017 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.
Properties.
53 Eridani is a visual binary, where the orbit of the two stars is calculated from their orbital motions. The primary star, 53 Eridani A, is an evolved red giant with a spectral type of K1III. It is almost ten times as wide as the Sun and slightly more massive than the Sun. The secondary star, 53 Eridani B, has an apparent magnitude of 6.95 and its spectral type is unknown. The two have an orbital period of 77 years and have a quite eccentric orbit at 0.666. The total mass of the system is .


List of stars in Vulpecula

This is the list of notable stars in the constellation Vulpecula, sorted by decreasing brightness.


NGC 3898

NGC 3898 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 14, 1789.


V380 Orionis

V380 Ori is a young multiple star system located near the Orion Nebula in the constellation Orion, thought to be somewhere between 1 and 3 million years old. It lies at the centre of NGC 1999 and is the primary source lighting up this and other nebulae in the region.
System.
V380 Orionis is a multiple star system containing at least three stars. A very faint cool star 9" away is also thought to be gravitationally bound, making it a hierarchical quadruple system. Two infrared sources within NGC 1999 have been listed as companions in some catalogues, but are not thought to be stars. When discovered, they were referred to as V380 Ori-B and V-380 Ori-C, a notation which can lead to confusion.
The main component is visible as the 10th magnitude variable star at the centre of NGC 1999, referred to as the primary. Speckle interferometry shows a cool companion separated by 0.15", approximately 62 AU, referred to as the tertiary. Spectroscopy shows a third star at a projected separation less than 0.33 AU, referred to as the secondary. The two closest stars, the primary and tertiary, are surrounded by a circumstellar disk, lying almost edge-on to observers on earth. The fourth star has a projected separation of 4,000 AU and is receding from the other three.
The system is believed to have formed with all four stars close together, but interacted to eject the smallest star into an unstable but gravitationally bound orbit around 20,000 years ago.
The primary and secondary, the two closest stars, are calculated to orbit every 104 days. The radial velocity signatures in the spectrum have a large margin of uncertainty and the orbit is poorly defined. Comparing the mass ratio found from the orbit with masses assumed from other physical properties suggests that the orbit is seen close to pole-on.
Properties.
The primary star is a hot white Herbig Ae/Be star that has been variously assigned spectral types between B9 and A1. It has a surface temperature of 10,500 ± 500 K, is around 2.87 times as massive as the sun, 3 times its radius, and 100 times as luminous. It has a strong magnetic field which varies every 4.1 days and this is assumed to be the star's rotation period. Models show that the axis of rotation is inclined at 32 degrees. It is a variable star, considered an Orion variable, with occasional fading and other variability caused by obscuration from the surrounding dust. The apparent magnitude varies irregularly between 10.2 and 10.7. The properties of the star are calculated based on its maximum brightness, assumed to be the least obscured.
The secondary is a T Tauri star, detected by distinctive spectral lines that could not be produced by the hotter primary star. that has a surface temperature of 5,500 ± 500 K, is around 1.6 times as massive as the sun, twice its radius, and three times as luminous.
The nature of the tertiary component is uncertain. No spectral lines have been seen originating from this component.
The fourth star, sometimes called V380 Orionis B, is a small, cool object of spectral type M5 or M6 that is either a red dwarf or brown dwarf.
Nebulosity.
One of the component stars of V380 Orionis appears to have launched a polar jet that helped to clear the keyhole-shaped hole in the surrounding nebula known as NGC 1999. The system is surrounded by a bow shock—the total structure over 17 light-years (5.3 parsecs) across.


34 Cancri

34 Cancri is a star in the zodiac constellation of Cancer, located about 568 light years away from the Sun. It is a challenge to view with the naked even under good viewing conditions, having an apparent visual magnitude of 6.48. At the distance of this star, its visual magnitude is diminished by an extinction of 0.14 due to interstellar dust.
This is an A-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of A1 V. It is a chemically peculiar star, possibly of the magnetic-type (CP2), showing an abnormal abundance of strontium. The star is an estimated 336 million years old with only a moderate projected rotational velocity of 18 km/s. It has an estimated 2.7 times the mass of the Sun and about 2.7 times the Sun's radius. The star is radiating 70 times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 9,661 K.


Omega2 Cancri

ω2 Cancri is a star in the zodiac constellation Cancer, located around 810 light years away from the Sun. It has the Flamsteed designation 4 Cancri; "ω2 Cancri" is the Bayer designation, which is Latinised to omega2 Cancri and abbreviated to ω2 Cnc or omega2 Cnc. The star is near the lower limit of visibility to the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of 6.32. It is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of −8 km/s. The position of this star near the ecliptic means it is subject to lunar occultations.
This is an ordinary A-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of A1 V, which indicates it is generating energy through hydrogen fusion at its core. It has 2.6 times the mass of the Sun and about 2.5 times the Sun's radius. The star is radiating 68 times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 9354 K.


40 Arietis

40 Arietis is a probable binary star system in the northern constellation of Aries. "40 Arietis" is the Flamsteed designation. Their combined apparent magnitude is 5.82, putting the system near the limit of naked eye visibility. Based upon an annual parallax shift of just , it is away from the Sun. At that distance, its brightness is diminished by 0.21 in magnitude from extinction caused by interstellar gas and dust.
This is a suspected spectroscopic binary with an angular separation of between the two components. The visible component is an evolved giant star with a stellar classification of K1 III. It is a suspected variable star of unknown type, and is around 2.6 billion years old with 1.6 times the mass of the Sun. With the supply of hydrogen at its core exhausted, the star has expanded to 20 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 128 times the luminosity of the Sun from its swollen photosphere at an effective temperature of 4,473 K.


Lambda Librae

λ Librae (Latinised as Lambda Librae) is the Bayer designation for a binary star system in the zodiac constellation of Libra. It can be faintly seen with the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of 5.03. With an annual parallax shift of 10.54 mas, it is roughly 310 light years from the Sun. At that distance, the visual magnitude of this system is diminished by an extinction factor of 0.22 due to interstellar dust. It is 0.1 degree north of the ecliptic.
This is a single-lined spectroscopic binary star system with an orbital period of 14.48 days and an eccentricity of 0.27. The visible component is a B-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of B3 V. It is a helium-weak chemically peculiar star and a rotating ellipsoidal variable. The star has an estimated 3.9 times the radius of the Sun and five times the Sun's mass. This is a candidate Vega-like star, meaning that it shows an infrared excess characteristic of a circumstellar debris disk. The system is a source of X-ray emission.


NGC 6553

NGC 6553 is a globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius. NGC 6553 has an apparent magnitude of about 8th magnitude with an apparent diameter of 8.2 arcminutes. Its Shapley–Sawyer Concentration Class is XI, meaning the star concentration is very loose even at the center; it has stars of magnitude 20 and dimmer. It is located just over a degree southeast of Messier 8, the Lagoon Nebula.
Unlike common globular clusters, NGC 6553 is relatively metal-rich, and there is evidence of at least two periods of star formation. Due to a complex star-forming record, the stars in the cluster are differing in composition, most notably in concentrations of sodium and aluminium.
NGC 6553 is very similar in composition to NGC 6528, suggesting an origin in a similar environment.


24 Aquilae

24 Aquilae (abbreviated 24 Aql) is a star in the equatorial constellation of Aquila. "24 Aquilae" is its Flamsteed designation. It is located at a distance of around from Earth and has an apparent visual magnitude of 6.4. According to the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, this star is just visible to the naked eye in dark rural skies. It is drifting closer to the Sun with a radial velocity of −26 km/s.
This is a so-called mild barium star, as identified by the presence of a weak absorption line of singly-ionized barium atoms at a wavelength of 455.4 nm. Such stars display an atmospheric overabundance of carbon and the heavy elements produced by the s-process, which was most likely transferred into the atmosphere by a wide binary stellar companion. However, in the case of 24 Aquilae, the abundances of heavy elements are near normal.
At an estimated age of a half billion years, 24 Aquilae is a evolved giant star with a stellar classification of K0 IIIa. It has more than double the mass of the Sun, 11 times the Sun's radius, and shines with 56 times the Sun's luminosity. It is radiating this energy into space from its outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 4,733 K. This heat is what gives it the cool orange hue characteristic of a K-type star.


NGC 259

NGC 259 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Cetus. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1786.


List of stars in Coma Berenices

This is the list of notable stars in the constellation Coma Berenices, sorted by decreasing brightness.


Xi Orionis

Xi Orionis (ξ Orionis) is a binary star system in the northeastern part of the constellation of Orion, well above the red giant star, Betelgeuse in the sky. It lies next to another blue main-sequence star, Nu Orionis which is somewhat closer at 520 light years. The apparent visual magnitude of Xi Orionis is 4.47, which is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. The distance to this star, as determined using the parallax method, is roughly 610 light years.
This is a spectroscopic binary star system with an orbital period of 45.1 days and an eccentricity of 0.26. The primary component is a B-type subgiant star with a stellar classification of B3 IV. With an estimated age of just 32 million years, it has a relatively high rate of spin, showing a projected rotational velocity of 160 km/s. Xi Orionis has about 6.7 times the mass of the Sun, and shines with 1,390 times the solar luminosity from its outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 15,476 K.


NGC 5829

NGC 5829 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Boötes that is interacting with the irregular galaxy IC 4526. Together, the two form the galaxy pair Arp 42.


Alpha Caeli

Alpha Caeli (α Cae, α Caeli) is a double star system in the constellation Caelum.
Physical Properties.
Primary.
Alpha Caeli A is an F-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of F2V and an apparent magnitude of +4.44. It has 1.48 times the mass of the Sun and 1.3 times the solar radius. The projected rotational velocity at the stellar equator is 47.8 km/s. It is suspected of being a Delta Scuti variable star.
Companion + Orbit.
The companion is a spectral class M0.5V red dwarf star with absolute magnitude 9.80. It is a UV Ceti variable star that undergoes random increases in luminosity. This star is currently separated from the primary by an angle of 6.6 arcseconds, which indicates an orbit with a semimajor axis whose expected value is 206 AU.
Motion.
Alpha Caeli is approximately 65.7 light years from Earth and is an estimated 900 million years old. The space velocity components of this system are U = 10, V = 6 and W = -10 km/s. It is orbiting the Milky Way galaxy at an average distance of 8.006 kpc from the core and with an orbital eccentricity of 0.07. This orbit lies close to the galactic plane, and the system travels no more than 0.05 kpc above or below this plane. Alpha Caeli is probably a member of the Ursa Major moving group of stars that have similar kinematic properties and probably originated from the same star cluster.


35 Vulpeculae

35 Vulpeculae is a single, white-hued star in the northern constellation of Vulpecula. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.39. An annual parallax shift of provides a distance estimate of about 193 light years. It is moving closer with a heliocentric radial velocity of −8 km/s.
This is an A-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of A1VmA3, indicating it has the spectrum of an A1 class star with the metal-lines of an A3 star. It is an estimated 212 million years old with a projected rotational velocity of 81 km/s. The star has 2.15 times the mass of the Sun with 1.70 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 21.6 times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of around 9,622 K.


U Microscopii

U Microscopii is a Mira variable star in the constellation Microscopium. It ranges from magnitude 7 to 14.4 over a period of 334 days. The Astronomical Society of Southern Africa in 2003 reported that observations of U Microscopii were very urgently needed as data on its light curve was incomplete.


NGC 2503

NGC 2503 is an isolated spiral galaxy approximately 254 million light-years away in the constellation Cancer. The galaxy was discovered on February 17, 1865 by astronomer Albert Marth.


NGC 6362

NGC 6362 is a globular cluster in the constellation Ara, lying close to Apus in the southern sky. A telescope with a 150mm primary mirror is required to resolve the stars within this irregularly shaped cluster. The cluster NGC 6362, what's known as a globular cluster, was observed by the Wide Field Imager attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. The resulting photo shows tens of thousands of very ancient stars, along with a good number of stars passing off younger than they actually are. Tightly bound by gravity, globular clusters are composed of old stars, which, are around 10 billion years old, and much older than the sun. These clusters are fairly common. there are more than 150 currently known in our galaxy, the Milky Way, and more which have been spotted in other galaxies. All stars are usually around the same age in a given cluster. Most of the stars inside the cluster are thought to have formed at or around the same time and are thought to be of similar age. Most of the stars inside NGC 6362 are red giants that appear yellow and aged, however, you also see a number of so-called blue stragglers, stars that appear younger than their true age. Blue stars are hot and consume their fuel quickly.
These stars are bluer, more luminous and more massive than they should be after 10 billion years of stellar evolution, and if they had truly formed that long ago, they should have already died. There are only 2 possible explanations for these stars to be the color that they are, and shine as bright as they do and those are; these stars have either stolen mass from companion stars, or are the result of mergers between two stars that collided. NGC 6362 is located about 25 000 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ara (The Altar). British astronomer James Dunlop first observed this globular cluster on 30 June 1826.Believe it or not these clusters are showing up all over the our galaxy and in a lot of other surrounding galaxies. As we continue to find out more about these cluster we will come up with more ways that these blue stragglers have shown up in these otherwise ancient clusters.


NGC 903

NGC 903 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Aries. It is estimated to be about 230 million light-years from the Milky Way and has a diameter of approximately 35,000 ly. NGC 903 was on 13 December 1884 by the astronomer Edouard Stephan.


58 Leonis

58 Leonis is a possible binary star system in the southern part of the constellation of Leo, near the border with Sextans. It shines with an apparent magnitude of 4.85, making it bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. An annual parallax shift of yields a distance estimate of 360 light years. It is moving further from the Sun with a heliocentric radial velocity of +6 km/s.
This orange hued star is an evolved K-type giant with a stellar classification of , indicating a mild underabundance of iron in its spectrum. It was identified as a barium star by P. M. Williams (1971). These are theorized to be stars that show an enrichment of s-process elements by mass transfer from a now-white dwarf companion when it passed through the asymptotic giant branch stage. MacConnell et al. (1972) classified 58 Leonis as a marginal barium star. De Castro et al. (2016) consider this to be only a probable barium star, because of the low degree of s-process enrichment, and they rejected it from their sample. Rather than having an evolved companion, it may instead have formed from a cloud that was mildly enriched with s-process elements.


44 Cancri


Epsilon Canis Minoris

Epsilon Canis Minoris (ε Canis Minoris) is a suspected binary star system in the equatorial constellation of Canis Minor. It is a fifth magnitude star, which means it is bright enough to be faintly visible to the naked eye. Based upon an annual parallax shift of just 3.13 mas as seen from Earth, this star is located roughly 770 light years from the Sun, give or take a 40 light year margin of error.
This is an evolved G-type bright giant star with a stellar classification of G6.5 IIb. It is most likely (99% chance) on the horizontal branch, and is a barium star that shows an abnormal overabundance of barium in its spectrum. This s-process element may have been accreted from a now white dwarf companion during a previous stage of its evolution. The bright giant component has an estimated 4.63 times the mass of the Sun and has expanded to 45.5 times the Sun's radius. The star is radiating 1,087 times the Sun's luminosity from its enlarged photosphere at an effective temperature of about 4,916 K.


66 Ophiuchi

66 Ophiuchi is a solitary variable star in the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus. It has the variable star designation V2048 Ophiuchi, while "66 Ophiuchi" is the Flamsteed designation. This object is visible to the naked eye as a faint, blue-white hued point of light with a baseline apparent visual magnitude of 4.60. It is located approximately 650 light years away from the Sun based on parallax, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −13 km/s. The star has a peculiar velocity of relative to its neighbors.
This is a main sequence Be star with a stellar classification of B2Ve. It is a γ Cas variable; a shell star with a circumstellar disc of gas and is exhibiting irregular changes in brightness, ranging from 4.85 up to 4.55 magnitude. The star is 14 million years old with 8.8 times the Sun's mass and is spinning rapidly with a projected rotational velocity of 250 km/s. It is radiating 1,525 times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 22,000 K.
A magnitude 6.5 visual companion at an angular separation of has been reported.


Gliese 328

Gliese 328, also known as BD+02 2098, is a M-type main-sequence star. Its surface temperature is 3989 K. Gliese 328 is depleted in heavy elements compared to the Sun, with a metallicity Fe/H index of −0.13. The age of the star is unknown. Gliese 328 exhibits an activity cycle similar to that of the Sun, with a period around 2000 d.
Multiplicity surveys did not detect any stellar companions as of 2016.
Planetary system.
In 2013, one superjovian planet, named Gliese 328b, was discovered on a wide, highly eccentric orbit by the radial velocity method. The known planetary orbit is wide enough to not disrupt orbits of other bodies in the habitable zone of the star.


Eta Persei

Eta Persei (η Persei, abbreviated Eta Per, η Per), is a binary star and the 'A' component of a triple star system (the 'B' component is the star HD 237009) in the constellation of Perseus . It is approximately 1331 light-years away from Earth.
The two components of Eta Persei itself are designated Eta Persei A (officially named Miram , a recent name for the system) and B.
Nomenclature.
"η Persei" (Latinised to "Eta Persei") is the binary star's Bayer designation. The designations of its two components as "Eta Persei A" and "B" derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for multiple star systems, and adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Eta Persei mysteriously gained the named "Miram" in the 20th Century, though no source is known. In 2016, the IAU organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN decided to attribute proper names to individual stars rather than entire multiple systems. It approved the name "Miram" for the component Eta Persei A on 5 September 2017 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.
This star, together with Delta Persei, Psi Persei, Sigma Persei, Alpha Persei and Gamma Persei has been called "the Segment of Perseus".
In Chinese, (), meaning "Celestial Boat", refers to an asterism consisting of Eta Persei, Gamma Persei, Alpha Persei, Psi Persei, Delta Persei, 48 Persei, Mu Persei and HD 27084. Consequently, the Chinese name for Eta Persei itself is (, .)
Properties.
Eta Persei A belongs to spectral class K3 and has an apparent magnitude of +3.76. It radiates with 35,000 times the luminosity of the Sun.


W Hydrae

W Hydrae is a Mira-type variable star in the constellation Hydra.
The star is nearly located within the Solar neighborhood, between 75 and 120 parsecs, likely at 320 light years from the Sun. It has a visual apparent magnitude range of 5.6 to 10. In the near-infrared J band it has a magnitude of -1.7, is the 7th brightest star in the night sky, and is even brighter than Sirius.
Water and dust masers.
The star also shows signs of intense water emissions, indicative of the presence of a wide disk of dust and water vapour. Such emissions cover a zone spanning between 10.7 Astronomical Units (within Saturn's orbital zone) and 1.2 parsecs (or nearly 247,500 Astronomical Units, as far away as the Oort Cloud in Solar System).


HD 202206

HD 202206 is a binary star system in the southern constellation of Capricornus. With an apparent visual magnitude of +8.1, it is too faint to be visible to the naked eye. It is located at a distance of 150 light years from the Sun based on parallax, and is drifting further away with a radial velocity of +14.7 km/s.
The primary component is a G-type main-sequence star with a stellar classification of G6V, indicating it is generating energy through core hydrogen fusion. It is an estimated three billion years old and is spinning with a projected rotational velocity of 2.3 km/s. It is a metal-rich star – what astronomers term the abundance of elements of higher atomic number than helium – which may explain the star's unusually high luminosity for its class. The star has a slightly greater mass and radius compared to the Sun.
Companions.
In 2000, analysis of radial velocity measurements of the star revealed the existence of a brown dwarf companion with at least 17 times the mass of Jupiter around the star in an eccentric orbit with a period of around 256 days. Even after the brown dwarf was accounted for, the star still showed a drift in the radial velocity measurements, suggesting another companion in a longer-period orbit. In 2004 after further observations, the parameters of a proposed companion was announced.
Further observation of this system revised this picture in 2017, showing that the system instead consisted of a pair of co-orbiting stars being viewed nearly face-on, with the pair being orbited in turn by a brown dwarf or Super-Jupiter designated HD 202206 c. The secondary stellar companion, now designated component B rather than 'b', is a red dwarf star with 8.9% of the mass of the Sun.


NGC 6285

NGC 6285 is an interacting spiral galaxy located in the constellation Draco. It is classified as S0-a in the galaxy morphological classification scheme and was discovered by the American astronomer Lewis A. Swift in 1886. NGC 6285 is located at about 262 million light years away from Earth. NGC 6285 and NGC 6286 form a pair of interacting galaxies, with tidal distortions, categorized as Arp 293 in the Arp Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies<ref name="NASA/IPAC"></ref>


NGC 4365

NGC 4365 is an elliptical galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 13, 1784.
NGC 4365 is the central galaxy of W' cloud, a cloud of galaxies about 6 megaparsecs behind (further from us than) the Virgo supercluster.
NGC 4365 has a kinematically distinct, counter-rotating stellar core region, which provides strong evidence for the theory that elliptical galaxies grow through mergers. The mean age of its stellar population is greater than 12 billion years, and it retains a triaxial structure that has remained largely unchanged for 12 billion years. Because supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies tend to scatter stars into chaotic new orbits, the longevity of NGC 4365's triaxial structure and kinematically distinct stellar populations indicates that it cannot have a supermassive black hole with a mass greater than .
There is a stream of globular clusters connecting NGC 4365 to the neighboring compact S0 galaxy NGC 4342. It appears that NGC 4365 is stripping globular clusters and stars from its neighbor via tidal interaction.


U Orionis

U Orionis (abbreviated U Ori) is a Mira-type variable star in the constellation Orion. It is a classical long period variable star that has been well observed for over 120 years.
Discovery.
It was discovered on 1885 December 13 by J.E. Gore and initially it was thought to be a nova in the early stages of decline ("Gore's Nova" and "NOVA Ori 1885" as still listed in SIMBAD), but a spectrum taken at Harvard showed features similar to that of Mira. Thus U Orionis became the first long period variable to be identified by a photograph of its spectrum.
Location.
U Orionis lies less than half a degree east of the small-amplitude variable star χ1 Orionis and less than an arc-minute from the much fainter eclipsing variable UW Orionis. χ1 Orionis is slightly brighter than U Orionis at its brightest maximum, while UW Orionis is more than a thousand times fainter, similar to U Orionis at minimum.
Stellar parameters.
The star has a low effective temperature (roughly 2700 K) but a large and bloated radius of 370 solar radii and a high luminosity, 7,000 times higher than the Sun. If the Sun were replaced with U Orionis, its radius would extend beyond Mars's orbital zone (about 1.7 astronomical units), and, to be habitable with water at liquid state and a comfortable temperature, a planet would have to be located within 85 AU, within the Kuiper belt's orbital zone.
Possible planetary system.
According to Rudnitskij, a 12- to 15-year "super-periodicity" has been observed. The author infers such periodicity could coincide with the revolution period of an invisible companion, probably planetary. So far no clear hint of planetary objects has been detected.


NGC 6604

NGC 6604 is an open star cluster located 5500 light years away in the constellation of Serpens and is located about two degrees north of the Eagle Nebula.


Gamma Canis Majoris

Gamma Canis Majoris (γ Canis Majoris, abbreviated Gamma CMa, γ CMa), also named Muliphein , is a star in the constellation of Canis Major. It is unclear exactly why this relatively faint star was given the 'gamma' designation, but possibly because it is in the same part of the constellation as Sirius (alpha) and Mirzam (beta).
Nomenclature.
"γ Canis Majoris" (Latinised to "Gamma Canis Majoris") is the star's Bayer designation.
It bore the traditional name "Muliphein", not to be confused with "Muhlifain", which is Gamma Centauri; both names derive from the same Arabic root, محلفين "muħlifayn". In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name "Muliphein" for this star on 21 August 2016 and it is now so entered in the IAU Catalog of Star Names.
Properties.
Gamma Canis Majoris is a blue-white B-type bright giant with a stellar classification of B8II and an apparent magnitude of +4.11. It is approximately 440 light years from Earth. It is a chemically peculiar Hg-Mg star displaying abnormal lines of mercury and magnesium. This star has 5.6 times the radius of the Sun and the outer atmosphere has an effective temperature of 13,596 K.
This star is suspected of being a spectroscopic binary system, and there is a candidate companion at an angular separation of 0.332″ along a position angle of 114.8°. It is a member of the Collinder 121 open cluster.
Modern legacy.
Muliphein appears on the flag of Brazil, symbolizing the state of Rondônia.
The US Navy cargo ship USS Muliphen (AKA-61) was named after the star.


Nu2 Lyrae

Nu2 Lyrae, Latinized from ν2 Lyrae, or sometimes simply Nu Lyrae, is a solitary star in the northern constellation of Lyra. Based upon an annual parallax shift of 14.09 mas as seen from Earth, it is located around 231 light years from the Sun. With an apparent visual magnitude of 5.23, it is bright enough to be faintly visible to the naked eye.
This is a white-hued A-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of A3 V. At an estimated age of 214 million years, it is spinning with a projected rotational velocity of 128 km/s. This is giving the star an oblate shape with an equatorial bulge that is 5% larger than the polar radius. Nu2 Lyrae has an estimated 1.9 times the mass of the Sun and about 1.5 times the Sun's radius. It is radiating 32 times the solar luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of around 8,912 K.


MX Puppis

MX Puppis (MX Pup) is a class B1.5IV (blue subgiant) star in the constellation Puppis. Its apparent magnitude varies irregularly between magnitude 4.6 and 4.9 and it is classified as a Gamma Cassiopeiae variable. It is approximately 930 light years away based on parallax.
It is a γ Cas variable, ranging from 4.92 to 4.60 magnitude.


Q Scorpii

Q Scorpii (Q Sco) is an orange giant star in the constellation Scorpius. Its apparent magnitude is 4.27. It lies in the tail of Scorpius, between the stars λ Scorpii and μ Scorpii, from the faint globular cluster Tonantzintla 2.
Q Scorii is a suspected astrometric binary, a star whose position is seen to oscillate although no companion has been detected. From Hipparcos data, its proper motion is seen to be discrepant and accelerating, although there is insufficient data to determine any orbit.
Q Scorpii is cooler than the sun, but more luminous. It is a red clump giant, at the cool end of the horizontal branch, fusing helium in its core. Like all red clump giants, it has an effective temperature near and a bolometric luminosity of around .


38 Lyncis

38 Lyncis is a multiple star system in the northern constellation of Lynx. It located about 125 light-years from the Sun, based on parallax.
When viewed through a moderate telescope, two components—a brighter blue-white star of magnitude 3.9 and a fainter star of magnitude 6.1 that has been described as lilac as well as blue-white—can be seen. The pair have an angular separation of and an estimated period of . The fainter component is itself a close binary which can only be resolved using speckle interferometry. The two were separated by in 1993 and in 2008, and have an estimated orbital period of . A further faint star, component E away, is a proper-motion companion. Two other faint companions listed in multiple star catalogues as components C and D are unrelated background objects.
38 Lyncis was given as a standard star for the spectral class of A3 V when the Morgan-Keenan classification system was first defined in 1943, apparently for the two components combined.
The primary star, component A, is a class A main sequence star around twice the mass of the sun. An effective temperature of and a radius of mean that it is over thirty times more luminous than the sun. It has been listed as a λ Boötis star, although it is no longer considered to be a member. The fainter of the pair, component B, has been given a spectral class of A4V, although it consists of two very close stars. Their properties are poorly-known, even the difference in their apparent magnitudes can only be estimated to be approximately 2. Based on this, their masses are estimated to be and respectively. Component E is a 15th magnitude star with an approximate spectral type of M2, a red dwarf, and an estimated mass of , and a temperature of .


NGC 7759

NGC 7759 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Aquarius. It is located about 340 million light-years (100 Megaparsecs) away from the Sun. It was discovered independently by American astronomers Lewis A. Swift and Francis Preserved Leavenworth.


OU Puppis

OU Puppis (OU Pup) is a class A0 (white main-sequence) star in the constellation Puppis. Its apparent magnitude is 4.87 and it is approximately 184.4 light years away based on parallax.
It is an α² CVn variable, ranging from 4.93 to 4.86 magnitude with a period of 0.92 days.
Unlike the majority of star pairs, the number attached to the Bayer designation 'L' is generally a subscript: L1. Its better-known companion L2 Puppis is similarly represented.


WX Pyxidis

WX Pyxidis is a cataclysmic variable star system in the constellation Pyxis. Its X-ray emissions were discovered in 1984, after which a visual correlate was searched for. It is classed as an intermediate polar system, composed of a white dwarf and red dwarf with a calculated spectral type of M2V in close orbit around each other and the spin of the degenerate star is such that it does not present the same face to the other star. The degenerate star spins on its axis every 25 minutes. The stars are estimated to take 5.3 hours to orbit each other and the system is 1530 parsecs distant.


NGC 4753

NGC 4753 is a lenticular galaxy located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. NGC 4753 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel on February 22, 1784. It is notable for having distinct dust lanes that surround its nucleus. The galaxy is a member of the Virgo II Groups, an extension of the Virgo Cluster.
Physical characteristics.
The distribution of dust in NGC 4753 lies in an inclined disk wrapped several times around the nucleus. The material in the disk may have been accreted from the merger of gas rich dwarf galaxy. Over several orbital periods, the accreted material eventually smeared out into a disk. Differential precession that occurred after the accretion event caused the disk to twist. Eventually, the disk settled into a fixed orientation with respect to the galaxy. The age of the disk is estimated to be around half a billon to a billion years.
Another explanation suggests that the dust in NGC 4753 originated from red giant stars in the galaxy.
Dark Matter.
Analysis of the twisted disk in NGC 4753 by Steiman-Cameron et al. revealed that most of the mass in the galaxy lies in a slightly flattened spherical halo of Dark Matter.
Globular clusters.
NGC 4753 has an estimated population of 1070 ± 120 globular clusters.
Supernovae.
NGC 4753 has been the host to two supernovae, SN 1965I and SN 1983G.
SN 1965I.
On June 18, 1965 a type 1a supernova was discovered in NGC 4753.
SN 1983G.
Astronomer Robert Evan discovered a type 1a supernova known as SN 1983g in NGC 4753. The supernova was discovered on April 4, 1983.
Group Membership.
NGC 4753 is a member of its own galaxy group, known as the NGC 4753 Group. The NGC 4753 Group is located near the southern edge of the Virgo Cluster. The group, along with other groups of galaxies form part of a filament that extends off from the southern border of the Virgo Cluster that is called the Virgo II Groups.


46 Leonis Minoris

46 Leonis Minoris (abbreviated 46 LMi), also named Praecipua , is the brightest star in the constellation of Leo Minor. It is of spectral class K0+III-IV and of magnitude 3.83. It is a red clump giant. Based upon parallax measurements, its distance from the Sun is approximately 95 light-years. It is a suspected variable with an amplitude of about 0.05 magnitudes.
Nomenclature.
"46 Leonis Minoris" is the star's Flamsteed designation. It is sometimes designated "o LMi" (not ""ο" LMi"), from Bode's catalogue of 1801. It was presumably intended to be designated α, as Francis Baily decided to letter each star brighter than magnitude 4.5, but the designation was missing from his catalogue, even though the dimmer β was included.
It bore the traditional proper name "Praecipua", derived from the Latin for "the Chief (Star of Leo Minor)". The name may originally have referred to 37 Leonis Minoris, and later mistakenly transferred to this star. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name "Praecipua" for this star on 30 June 2017 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.
It is known as 勢四, "the Fourth (Star) of the ", in traditional Chinese astronomy.