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He built a private observatory and did extensive observations of the spectral emission lines and absorption lines of various celestial objects. He was the first to distinguish between nebulas and galaxies by showing that some (like the Orion Nebula) had pure emission spectra characteristic of gas, while others like the Andromeda Galaxy had spectra characteristic of stars.

He won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1867 jointly with William Allen MillerWilliam Allen Miller ( December 17 1817 September 30 1870) was a British chemist. Although he was a chemist, his major contribution was to astronomy, or more specifically spectroscopy, which was a very new field at the time. He won the Gold Medal of the R, and then again, alone, in 18851885 is a common year starting on Thursday (click on link for calendar) Events January January 4 The first successful appendectomy is performed (Dr. William Grant; patient was Mary Gartside). January 20 L. Thompson patents the roller coaster. January 26 T. He also won the Copley MedalThe Copley Medal is a scientific award for work in any field of science, the highest award granted by the Royal Society of London. It is also the society's oldest award, the first medal being awarded in 1731. The award was created after a £100 bequest in in 1898Events January 1 New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. January 13 Emile Zola's J'accus and the Bruce MedalThe Catherine Wolfe Bruce gold medal is awarded every year by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for outstanding lifetime contributions to astronomy. See also Past laureates are: 1898 Simon Newcomb 1899 Arthur Auwers 1900 David Gill 1902 Giovanni V. in 19041904 is a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). Events January 7 The distress signal " CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by " SOS. February 7 A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30.

Craters on the MoonFor other moons in the solar system see natural satellite. For other uses see Moon (disambiguation). The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth. It has no formal name other than "The Moon" although it is occasionally called Luna ( Latin for moon to d and on MarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, both small and odd are named after him, as is the asteroid 2635 Huggins .