In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an abstract sphere that has an arbitrarily large radius and is concentric to Earth. All objects in the sky can be conceived as being projected upon the inner surface of the celestial sphere, which may be centered on Earth or the observer. If centered on the observer, half of the sphere would resemble a hemispherical screen over the observing location; the celestial sphere is a practical tool for spherical astronomy, allowing astronomers to specify the apparent positions of objects in the sky if their distances are unknown or irrelevant. In the equatorial coordinate system, the celestial equator divides the celestial sphere into two halves: the northern and southern celestial hemispheres; because astronomical objects are at such remote distances, casual observation of the sky offers no information on their actual distances. All celestial objects seem far away, as if fixed onto the inside of a sphere with a large but unknown radius, which appears to rotate westward overhead.

For purposes of spherical astronomy, concerned only with the directions to celestial objects, it makes no difference if this is the case or if it is Earth, rotating while the celestial sphere is stationary. The celestial sphere can be considered to be infinite in radius; this means any point within it, including that occupied by the observer, can be considered the center. It means that all parallel lines, be they millimetres apart or across the Solar System from each other, will seem to intersect the sphere at a single point, analogous to the vanishing point of graphical perspective. All parallel planes will seem to intersect the sphere in a coincident great circle. Conversely, observers looking toward the same point on an infinite-radius celestial sphere will be looking along parallel lines, observers looking toward the same great circle, along parallel planes. On an infinite-radius celestial sphere, all observers see the same things in the same direction. For some objects, this is over-simplified.

Objects which are near to the observer will seem to change position against the distant celestial sphere if the observer moves far enough, from one side of planet Earth to the other. This effect, known as parallax, can be represented as a small offset from a mean position; the celestial sphere can be considered to be centered at the Earth's center, the Sun's center, or any other convenient location, offsets from positions referred to these centers can be calculated. In this way, astronomers can predict geocentric or heliocentric positions of objects on the celestial sphere, without the need to calculate the individual geometry of any particular observer, the utility of the celestial sphere is maintained. Individual observers can work out their own small offsets from the mean positions. In many cases in astronomy, the offsets are insignificant; the celestial sphere can thus be thought of as a kind of astronomical shorthand, is applied frequently by astronomers. For instance, the Astronomical Almanac for 2010 lists the apparent geocentric position of the Moon on January 1 at 00:00:00.00 Terrestrial Time, in equatorial coordinates, as right ascension 6h 57m 48.86s, declination +23° 30' 05.5".

Implied in this position is. For many rough uses, this position, as seen from the Earth's center, is adequate. For applications requiring precision, the Almanac gives formulae and methods for calculating the topocentric coordinates, that is, as seen from a particular place on the Earth's surface, based on the geocentric position; this abbreviates the amount of detail necessary in such almanacs, as each observer can handle their own specific circumstances. These concepts are important for understanding celestial coordinate systems, frameworks for measuring the positions of objects in the sky. Certain reference lines and planes on Earth, when projected onto the celestial sphere, form the bases of the reference systems; these include the Earth's equator and orbit. At their intersections with the celestial sphere, these form the celestial equator, the north and south celestial poles, the ecliptic, respectively; as the celestial sphere is considered arbitrary or infinite in radius, all observers see the celestial equator, celestial poles, ecliptic at the same place against the background stars.

From these bases, directions toward objects in the sky can be quantified by constructing celestial coordinate systems. Similar to geographic longitude and latitude, the equatorial coordinate system specifies positions relative to the celestial equator and celestial poles, using right ascension and declination; the ecliptic coordinate system specifies positions relative to the ecliptic, using ecliptic longitude and latitude. Besides the equatorial and ecliptic systems, some other celestial coordinate systems, like the galactic coordinate system, are more appropriate for particular purposes; the ancients assumed the literal truth of stars attached to a celestial sphere, revolving about the Earth in one day, a fixed Earth. The Eudoxan planetary model, on which the Aristotelian and Ptolemaic models were based, was the first geometric explanation for the "wandering" of the classical planets; the outer most of these "crystal spheres" was thought to carry the fixed stars. Eudoxus used 27 concentric spherical solids to answer Plato's challenge: "By the assumption of what uniform and orderly motions can the appa

The 2014–15 Serbian SuperLiga was the ninth season of the Serbian SuperLiga since its establishment. The league contains 16 teams. 14 teams from the 2013–14 Serbian SuperLiga and two new teams Borac Čačak and Mladost Lučani. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Nike is the official ball supplier for Serbian SuperLiga. For the list of transfers involving SuperLiga clubs during 2014–15 season, please see: List of Serbian football transfers summer 2014 and List of Serbian football transfers winter 2014-15. All clubs play each other twice, once away. Giving a total of 30 matches to be played per team. 5 Player scored five goals Official website

M. Evelina Galang is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist and activist of Filipina descent, her novel One Tribe won the AWP Novel of the Year Prize in 2004. Maria Evelina Galang, the eldest of six children, was the first American-born member of her family, her father, Miguel T. Galang, a physician, mother, Gloria Lopez-Tan Galang, met in the United States while she was earning a master's degree in English at Marquette University, he was in residency at a local hospital. After returning to live in the Philippines when Galang was one year old, the family immigrated permanently to the United States to avoid the coming Marcos dictatorship; the family lived in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Baltimore and Peoria before settling in Milwaukee, when Galang was ten. Galang earned a degree in radio, TV, film at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1983, she worked at an NBC affiliate in Madison, Wisconsin, as a producer and on-air arts/entertainment reporter. Relocating to Chicago, she forged a 20-year career as a script and continuity supervisor in TV commercial production.

Over the same period, Galang pursued an MFA in creative writing at Colorado State University, completing her degree in 1994. After teaching creative writing at Old Dominion University, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Iowa State University, Galang received a 2002 Fulbright Research Fellowship, allowing her to spend eight months in the Philippines researching the stories of surviving comfort women. Upon her return to the United States, Galang joined the Creative Writing Program at the University of Miami, where she is a professor of English, she became director of the program in 2009. Galang's writing explores the experiences of Filipino immigrants and first-generation Filipino Americans. “M. Evelina Galang's work spans generations with her writing of young Filipina-Americans and the surviving World War II ‘comfort women.’”Her Wild American Self, written as Galang's MFA thesis, was published to acclaim in 1996. The New York Times Book Review praised the story collection for its "elegant, mesmerizing style," and said, "the brief, chant like monologues that frame the collection are as lyrical as prayers."

It was named a Times Notable Book. In 2003 Galang edited Screaming Monkeys: A Critique of Asian American Images, an anthology of essays, illustrations and pictures, it won ForeWord Magazine's Gold Book of the Year Award for 2003, as well as the Gustavus Meyers Outstanding Book Award in the Advancement of Human Rights for 2003. One Tribe, Galang's first novel, won the AWP Series for the Novel Award in 2004, while still in manuscript. Set in the Filipino-American community of Norfolk, Va. it was published by New Issues Press in 2006. It won the 2007 Global Filipino Literary Award for Fiction. Galang's second novel, Angel de la Luna and the 5th Glorious Mystery, marketed to Young Adult readers, was nominated for the 2014 Teen Choice Award, named a Young People Against the World book recommendation by the Northwest Asian Weekly, it was selected for the American Library Association's Amelia Bloomer Project Recommended Feminist Literature List `from Birth through 18. Galang is a leading advocate of Pinayism, a form of feminism rooted in the Filipina-American experience.

Since 1998, Galang has been researching the lives of the women of Liga ng mga Lolang Pilipina, a group surviving Filipina “comfort women,” forced into sex camps by the Japanese army, who came forward to make their stories public. She was the outreach coordinator of the 121 Coalition, lobbying for passage of House Resolution 121, which called on the Japanese government to publicly apologize to former comfort women in Korea, the Philippines, elsewhere; the United States Congress House passed Resolution 121 on July 30, 2007. Galang supports the development of emerging minority writers, she teaches in the two-week summer workshop of Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation, a multi-genre workshop taught by established writers of color such as co-founders Junot Diaz and Elmaz Abinader, as well Chris Abani, Stacyann Chin, others. She serves on the VONA board of directors. Galang advocates multilingual fiction, that is, writing that combines English with the characters’ heritage language, without translation.

Her activism has brought Galang invitations to the White House in 2013 and 2012 for briefings on Asian American and Filipino American affairs, to the State Department for lunch with Hillary Clinton and President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines in 2012. In 2014 Galang was named one of the “100 Most Influential Filipinas in the World” by the Filipina Women's Network, for her public activism, her behind-the-scenes work as an activist and administrator. October 7, 2014. Named one of the 100 most influential Filipinas in the World by Filipina Women's Network. 2013 Angel de la Luna and the 5th Glorious Mystery Recommended Feminist Literature for Birth Through 18— Amelia Bloomer Project, The Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association. Young People Against the World Book Recommendation, Northwest Asian Weekly, Nov. 12, 2013. 2013 Teen Choice Book of the Year Nomination in association with the Children's Book Council and Every Child a Reader. October 25, 2007.

Named one of the 100 most influential Filipinas in the United States by Filipina Women's Network 2006 Global Filipino Literature Award in Fiction for One Tribe. 2004 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award in the Advancement of Human Rights for Screaming Monkeys. 2004 Association of Writers and Writing Programs Prize in the Novel for One Tribe. 2003 ForeWord Gold Award: Best Anthology of the Year for Screaming Monkeys. Glimmer Train's Very Short Fiction Award, 25 Top