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Rigel
Prominence
An eruption of hot gases beyond the photosphere seen as a dark area in the corona of the Sun.
 Prominence—Solar prominences are some of the most spectacular sights in the Solar System. The one shown here leaps half the radius of the Sun, following a magnetic line of force.
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemaeus was a Greek scientist who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, in the 2nd century a.d. Although almost nothing is known of his life, he played an extremely important part in the history of astronomy through his book The Great Astronomer. In it he set out the thinking of the Ancient Greeks, including one of the earliest astronomers, Hipparchus.
He made a star catalogue, extending the 850 stars identified by Hipparchus to 1,022.
Ptolemy wrote down the Greek belief that the Earth was the center of the Universe and that all other bodies, including the stars and
our Sun, revolved around it. This became known as the Ptolemaic System and was accepted for
nearly 1,500 years. Ptolemy believed that because everything fell to the center of the Universe (as he thought), and because falling objects fall toward the center of the Earth, then the Earth must be at the center of the Universe.
Ptolemy thought the Solar System was organized this way (starting at the center and moving outward): Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter,
and Saturn.
Q
Quasar
A rare, extremely bright object about 100,000 light-years across. It releases enormous amounts
of radiation, possibly from gas spiraling into a black hole.
R
Red dwarf
A cool, faint star of small mass.
Red giant
A star that has low surface temperature and a large diameter relative to the Sun.
Rigel
The common name for the star Beta Oriois. It is the seventh brightest star in the sky. It is a supergiant star 1,400 light-years away and 150,000 times as bright as the Sun.
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