Mira (/ˈmaɪrə/, also known as Omicron Ceti, ο Ceti, ο Cet) is a red giant star estimated 200–400 light years away in the constellation Cetus. Mira is a binary star, consisting of the red giant Mira A along with Mira B. Mira A is also an oscillating variable star and was the first non-supernova variable star discovered, with the possible exception of Algol. Mira is the brightest periodic variable in the sky that is not visible to the naked eye for part of its cycle. Its distance is uncertain; pre-Hipparcos estimates centered on 220 light-years; while Hipparcos data from the 2007 reduction suggest a distance of 299 light-years, with a margin of error of 11%.
Evidence that the variability of Mira was known in ancient China, Babylon or Greece is at best only circumstantial. What is certain is that the variability of Mira was recorded by the astronomer David Fabricius beginning on August 3, 1596. Observing what he thought was the planet Mercury (later identified as Jupiter), he needed a reference star for comparing positions and picked a previously unremarked third-magnitude star nearby. By August 21, however, it had increased in brightness by one magnitude, then by October had faded from view. Fabricius assumed it was a nova, but then saw it again on February 16, 1609.
Miraí is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion of Zona da Mata and to the microregion of Muriaé.
Brejo was its first name. The agriculture sector is pointed as one of the most successful of the region Zona da Mata.
The city territory is located in a region of easy access due to the presence of Rio-Bahia highway, also called BR-116.
The first village was set up on the margins of the Muriaé River.
Around 1840, attracted by land fertility, the first explorers came to Miraí's region.
Finding land and good water, they spread the news and eventually other farmers arrived.
At 1852, a group of farmers acquired part of the land belonging to the farm named Três Barras,
in the place they built a chapel to Santo Antônio and around grew a village called Brejo.
Later, the village became the District of Paz, with the name of Santo Antônio do Muriaé, belonging to Freguesia de Santa Rita de Meia Pataca.
At 1883, the district was turned into Freguesia de Santo Antônio do Camapuã.
The name was changed to Miraí, which means "wet land" in Tupi, by 1895.
The municipality was created in 1923, separating itself from Cataguases.
Mira is a 1971 Dutch-Belgian drama film directed by Fons Rademakers. It was entered into the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 44th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Mira is a petascale Blue Gene/Q supercomputer. As of June 2013, it is listed on TOP500 as the fifth-fastest supercomputer in the world. It has a performance of 8.59 petaflops (LINPACK) and consumes 3.9 MW. The supercomputer was constructed by IBM for Argonne National Laboratory's Argonne Leadership Computing Facility with the support of the United States Department of Energy, and partially funded by the National Science Foundation. Mira will be used for scientific research, including studies in the fields of material science, climatology, seismology, and computational chemistry. The supercomputer is being utilized initially for sixteen projects, selected by the Department of Energy.
The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, which commissioned the supercomputer, was established by the America COMPETES Act, signed by President Bush in 2007, and President Obama in 2011. The United States' emphasis on supercomputing has been seen as a response to China's progress in the field. China's Tianhe-1A, located at the Tianjin National Supercomputer Center, was ranked the most powerful supercomputer in the world from October 2010 to June 2011. Mira is, along with IBM Sequoia and Blue Waters, one of three American petascale supercomputers deployed in 2012.
Mira is a comune (municipality) in the province of Venice, Veneto, Italy.
It is crossed by SR11 Regional road. The main attraction are the Villa Foscari, designed by Andrea Palladio, and the Villa Widmann-Foscari.
Mira is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: