Charon is a moon of the dwarf planet Pluto. It is half as wide as Pluto and is much like the dwarf planet itself. It was discovered many years after Pluto.
It is named after Charon in Greek mythology, a boatman who would carry the souls of dead people across the river Acheron to the underworld.
Charon was found by astronomer James Christy on June 22, 1978, when he was looking at highly blown up picture of Pluto on a photographic plate that taken a couple of months before. Christy noticed that a slight bulge was able to be seen every now and then. This finding was made public on July 7, 1978. Later, the bulge was confirmed on plates dating back to April 29, 1965.
Later observations of Pluto were able to figure out that the bulge was due to a smaller body. The orbit of the bulge fit in with Pluto's rotation period, which was already known from Pluto's light curve.
Any final doubts were erased when Pluto and Charon entered a five-year period of mutual eclipses between 1985 and 1990. This happens when the Pluto-Charon orbital plane is edge-on as seen from Earth, which only happens at twice in Pluto's 248-year orbital period. It was very lucky that one of these intervals happened to occur so soon after Charon's discovery.
Pictures showing Pluto and Charon as separate disks were taken for the first time by the Hubble Space Telescope in the 1990s. Later, after a new technology called adaptive optics was discovered, it was possible to see Pluto and Charon as separate disks using ground-based telescopes.
Charon (mythology)
In mythology, Charon was the ferryman of Hades. He was the son of Erebos and Nyx.
Charon took the newly dead people across the river Acheron or Styx to the Greek underworld, if they paid him three obolus (a Greek silver coin). Because of this, people in Ancient Greece were always buried with a coin under their tongue and one on each eye to pay Charon. Those who could not pay him had to wander the banks of the Acheron until they found a pauper's entrance to Hades.
The largest moon of the planet Pluto is named Charon after this mythological person.
Chaos (mythology)
Chaos was the nothingness at the beginning of the world, described in the creation myths of Classical mythology. It was the state the universe (or cosmos) was in before it was created. Because early Christians did not understand how to use the word "chaos" properly, the word's meaning changed to "disorder" or random and not normal. It is the opposite of order.
Chaos is often identified as a god, who filled the gap between Heaven and Earth. Born out of chaos were the first beings:
Eros
Eros is the god of love, lust, and sex in Greek mythology.
According to Hesiod's "Theogony", Eros came from the Chaos. Later it was said that he was the son of Ares and Aphrodite.
His lover is Psyche.
Eros has a bow and golden arrows with whom he can shoot at people so they will fall in love, but he has also leaden arrows which make people hate others.
There is a famous statue which many people think is to Eros, but is actually to Anteros in London in Piccadilly Circus.
From the name Eros we get the word erotic, meaning: to do with sexual love (passionate and physical). There is also a noun: eroticism.
Eros is the son of Aphrodite.
Eros' main myth is: "the myth of Eros and Psyche" in which Eros and Psyche fall in love after psyche is put through tasks by Aphrodite.
Wheelwright
A wheelwright is someone who builds or repairs wheels. In the olden days there were lots of carts. The wheels were made of wood. It was a difficult job to make them, so the cartwright made the cart and the wheelwright did the specialized job of making the wheels. In ancient times some wheels were made of bone in order to look beautiful.
The word wheelwright is not often used for people who make wheels today. Wheels are made in factories and lots of people on the production line each have their bit to do.
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands. There are aprox. 1.01 million people living in Rotterdam (was put in on 18.11.2020). Rotterdam has the biggest port in Europe. The city is on several rivers, most notably the Maas. Rotterdam, like all of the Netherlands, has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Koeppen climate classification).
It hosts also a university: the Erasmus University Rotterdam.
On 18 March 2010, Rozenburg became a part of the municipality of Rotterdam.
A dam was built in 1260 across the river Rotte where the Hoogstraat is now. The name "Rotterdam" comes from this dam. The settlement was a regular fishing village at first, but became a thriving trading port pretty soon. The city got city rights in 1340 and city walls in 1360. Rotterdam became an important city in Holland in the middle of the 15th century when it won little wars against Delft and Gouda. From 1449 until 1525 a Gothic church ("Laurenskerk") was built. The city then hold about 10,000 people. The city revolted against Spanish occupation in 1573, becoming one of the main city's of the Eighty Years' War. The port of Rotterdam grew a lot in the late 16th century and early 17th century. In the end of the 17th century the city hold almost 50,000 people. But the city had not built outside of the city walls. The city became very crowded.
The port of Rotterdam became bigger and bigger in the 19th century when several new canals were dug. These were: "Nieuwe Waterweg" (lit: New Waterway), and "Voornse Kanaal". The city grew quickly due the enormous amount of work in the port. Population grew from 160,000 people in 1880 to 315,000 in 1900. Various new districts were built, including "Cool", "Crooswerk", and "Nieuwe Westen". Neighbouring places also became part of Rotterdam. In 1920, the city held more than 500,000 people for the first time in its history
Nazi Germany attacked the Netherlands in May 1940. The Battle of the Netherlands brought heavy fighting in Rotterdam. In the Blitz of Rotterdam, the Germans bombarded Rotterdam on May 14, 1940. The damage was huge; 24,000 buildings were destroyed in only 15 minutes, and there was virtually nothing left of the old centre of Rotterdam. 800 people died instantly, and 80,000 were homeless. The bombardment also destroyed the Willemsbrigde, one of the two brigdes across the Maas at that time. The Germans repaired the bridge quickly, as it was of vital importance for the city. During the German occupation, the neighbouring places of Hillegersberg, Schiebroek, Overschie, Kralingseveer and Ijsselmonde are annexed (put by) by Rotterdam. On November 11th, 1944, a large razzia took place. About 50,000 men from 17–40 years old from Rotterdam were deported into working camps. The city also lost many people in the famine of 1944 ("hongerwinter" (lit: Winter of hunger)).
Rotterdam was quickly rebuild after the war, but modernization led to the fact that many old buildings were not repaired, but replaced by totally new ones. The has led to the fact that the centre of Rotterdam is composed of new buildings, a thing not common in European city's. The ports of Rotterdam grow even more during the latter part of the 20th century. New area's, build right in the sea are "Botlek", "Maasvlakte", and "Europoort". The Euromast (185 m high) becomes an icon of Rotterdam. De metro of Rotterdam is opened in 1968, which then is the first metro in the Netherlands. The 1990s saw an increase of skyscrapers. The "Delftse Poort" which was ready in 1991 was the highest skyscraper in the Netherlands, with 151 m high, until the "Maastoren" became the highest building in 2009 with 165 m. The new Erasmusbridge which was ready in 1996 gave Rotterdam a new symbol.
The city of Rotterdam is split up into 14 districts, each with a number of neighbourhoods. The districts are:
Throne
A throne is the official chair or seat upon which a monarch (royal ruler) is seated on state or ceremonial occasions. The word "throne" can also refer to the monarchy itself.
Altar