The Small Magellanic Cloud, or Nubecula Minor, is a dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way. Classified as a dwarf irregular galaxy, the SMC has a diameter of about 7,000 light-years, contains several hundred million stars, has a total mass of 7 billion solar masses; the SMC contains a central bar structure, astronomers speculate that it was once a barred spiral galaxy, disrupted by the Milky Way to become somewhat irregular. At a distance of about 200,000 light-years, the SMC is among the nearest intergalactic neighbors of the Milky Way and is one of the most distant objects visible to the naked eye; the SMC is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere, but can be glimpsed low above the southern horizon from latitudes south of about 15° north. The galaxy is located across both the constellations of Tucana and part of Hydrus, appearing as a faint hazy patch resembling a detached piece of the Milky Way; the SMC has an average diameter of about 4.2° and thus covers an area of about 14 square degrees.

Since its surface brightness is low, this deep-sky object is best seen on clear moonless nights and away from city lights. The SMC forms a pair with the Large Magellanic Cloud, which lies 20° to the east, like the LMC, is a member of the Local Group and probably is a former satellite of the Large Magellanic Cloud and a current satellite of the Milky Way. In the southern hemisphere, the Magellanic clouds have long been included in the lore of native inhabitants, including south sea islanders and indigenous Australians. Persian astronomer Al Sufi labelled the larger of the two clouds as the White Ox. European sailors may have first noticed the clouds during the Middle Ages when they were used for navigation. Portuguese and Dutch sailors called them the Cape Clouds, a name, retained for several centuries. During the circumnavigation of the Earth by Ferdinand Magellan in 1519–22, they were described by Antonio Pigafetta as dim clusters of stars. In Johann Bayer's celestial atlas Uranometria, published in 1603, he named the smaller cloud, Nubecula Minor.

In Latin, Nubecula means a little cloud. Between 1834 and 1838, John Frederick William Herschel made observations of the southern skies with his 14-inch reflector from the Royal Observatory. While observing the Nubecula Minor, he described it as a cloudy mass of light with an oval shape and a bright center. Within the area of this cloud he catalogued a concentration of clusters. In 1891, Harvard College Observatory opened an observing station at Arequipa in Peru. Between 1893 and 1906, under the direction of Solon Bailey, the 24-inch telescope at this site was used to survey photographically both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Henrietta Swan Leavitt, an astronomer at the Harvard College Observatory, used the plates from Arequipa to study the variations in relative luminosity of stars in the SMC. In 1908, the results of her study were published, which showed that a type of variable star called a "cluster variable" called a Cepheid variable after the prototype star Delta Cephei, showed a definite relationship between the variability period and the star's luminosity.

This important period-luminosity relation allowed the distance to any other cepheid variable to be estimated in terms of the distance to the SMC. Hence, once the distance to the SMC was known with greater accuracy, Cepheid variables could be used as a standard candle for measuring the distances to other galaxies. Using this period-luminosity relation, in 1913 the distance to the SMC was first estimated by Ejnar Hertzsprung. First he measured thirteen nearby cepheid variables to find the absolute magnitude of a variable with a period of one day. By comparing this to the periodicity of the variables as measured by Leavitt, he was able to estimate a distance of 10,000 parsecs between the Sun and the SMC; this proved to be a gross underestimate of the true distance, but it did demonstrate the potential usefulness of this technique. Announced in 2006, measurements with the Hubble Space Telescope suggest the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds may be moving too fast to be orbiting the Milky Way. There is a bridge of gas connecting the Small Magellanic Cloud with the Large Magellanic Cloud, evidence of tidal interaction between the galaxies.

The Magellanic Clouds have a common envelope of neutral hydrogen indicating they have been gravitationally bound for a long time. This bridge of gas is a star-forming site. In 2017, using Dark Energy Survey plus MagLiteS data, a stellar over-density associated with the Small Magellanic Cloud was discovered, the result of interactions between SMC and LMC; the Small Magellanic Cloud contains a active population of X-ray binaries. Recent star formation has led to a large population of massive stars and high-mass X-ray binaries which are the relics of the short-lived upper end of the initial mass function; the young stellar population and the majority of the known X-ray binaries are concentrated in the SMC's Bar. HMXB pulsars are rotating neutron stars in binary systems with Be-type or supergiant stellar companions. Most HMXBs are of the Be type which account for 70% in the Milky Way and 98% in the SMC; the Be-star equatorial disk provides a reservoir of matter that can be accreted onto the neutron star during periastron passage or during large-scale disk ejection episodes.

This scenario leads to strings of X-ray outbursts with typical X-ray luminosities Lx = 1036–1037 erg/s, spaced at the orbital period, plus infrequent giant outbursts of greater duration and luminosity. Monitoring surveys of the SMC performed with NASA

The Pratimokṣa is a list of rules governing the behaviour of Buddhist monastics. Prati means "towards" and mokṣa means "liberation" from cyclic existence, it became customary to recite these rules once a fortnight at a meeting of the sangha during which confession would traditionally take place. A number of prātimokṣa codes are extant, including those contained in the Theravāda, Mahāsāṃghika, Mahīśāsaka, Sarvāstivāda and Mūlasarvāstivāda vinayas. Pratimokṣa texts may circulate in separate pratimokṣa sūtras, which are extracts from their respective vinayas; the Pratimokṣa belongs to the Vinaya of the Buddhist doctrine and is seen as the basis of Buddhism. On the basis of the Prātimokṣa there exist in Mahayana Buddhism two additional set of vows: The Bodhisattva vows and the Vajrayana vows. If these two sets of vows are not broken, they are regarded as carrying over to future lives; the Pratimokṣa is traditionally a section of the Vinaya. The Theravada Vinaya is preserved in the Pāli Canon in the Vinaya Piṭaka.

The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya is preserved in both the Tibetan Buddhist canon in the Kangyur, in a Chinese edition, in an incomplete Sanskrit manuscript. Some other complete vinaya texts are preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon, these include: Mahīśāsaka Vinaya Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya Dharmaguptaka Vinaya Sarvāstivāda Vinaya Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya The Dharmaguptaka sect are known to have rejected the authority of the Sarvāstivāda pratimokṣa rules on the grounds that the original teachings of the Buddha had been lost; the Patimokkha is the Pali equivalent of Pratimokṣa. It is being followed by the monks of the Theravada lineage, it consists of 227 rules for ordained monks and 311 for nuns. The Patimokkha is contained in a division of the Vinaya Pitaka. Buddhist traditions in East Asia follow the Dharmaguptaka vinaya lineage of the pratimokṣa, this is standard for the following Buddhist traditions: Chinese Buddhism Buddhism in Vietnam Korean BuddhismSome traditions of Buddhism in Japan and Korea carry out full monastic ordination, but most do not.

Instead, these traditions have priests and monastics who take the Bodhisattva Precepts instead of the tradional pratimokṣa vows. The pratimokṣa of the Mulasarvastivada lineage followed in Tibetan Buddhism is taken for life unless one or more of the four root vows are broken. In Tibetan Buddhism, there are eight types of Pratimokṣa vows: Fasting Vows — 8 vows Layperson's Vows — 5 vowsThe lay pratimokṣa consists of five vows that are known as the Five Śīlas: To refrain from killing. To refrain from stealing. To refrain from false speech. To refrain from sexual misconduct. To refrain from using intoxicants. One is not obliged to take all five vows; the commentaries describe seven types of lay followers: Promising to keep just one vow. Promising to keep certain vows. Promising to keep most of them. Promising to keep all five. Keeping all five and promising to keep the pure conduct of avoiding sexual contact. Keeping all five, pure conduct, wearing robes with the promise to behave like a monk or a nun. Lay follower of mere refuge.

This person is unable to keep the vows but he promises to go for refuge to the triple gem until death. Novices' Vows — 36 vows Full Nun's Vows — 364 vows Full Monk's Vows — 253 vowsOnly full monks and full nuns are seen as full members of the buddhist monastic order. A group of four ordained monastics is seen as a sangha; the prātimokṣa tells how to purify faults, how to solve conflicts and deal with all kinds of situations which can happen in the sangha. Early Buddhist schools First Buddhist council Second Buddhist council Prebish, Charles S.. Buddhist monastic discipline: the Sanskrit Prātimoksạ Sūtras of the Mahāsāmg̣hikas and Mūlasarvāstivādins. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-1339-1. Novice Vows: Lama Mipham's commentary to Nagarjunas "Stanzas for a Novice Monk" together with "Essence of the ocean of Vinaya" by Tsongkhapa ISBN 81-86470-15-8 Full Monk Vows: "Advice from Buddha Sahkyamuni" by HH the 14th Dalai Lama, ISBN 81-86470-07-7 Complete Explanation of the Pratimokṣa, Bodhisattva and Vajrayana Vows: "Buddhist Ethics", Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, ISBN 1-55939-191-X, Snow Lion Publications Monastic Rites by Geshe Jampa Thegchok, Wisdom Books, ISBN 0-86171-237-4 Ngari Panchen: Perfect Conduct: Ascertaining the Three Vows, Wisdom Publication, ISBN 0-86171-083-5 Sects & Sectarianism — The origins of Buddhist Schools The Ocean of Vinaya – Summary of the Pratimoksha vows by Je Tsongkhapa Pratimoksha Sutra of the Mulasarvastavada Lineage A complete list of the novice monk and novice nun vows by Venerable Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron and Thich Nhat Hanh

Revolution is the title of the tenth album by The Dubliners. It was their second to be produced by Phil Coulter; this was a landmark in their career. Their sound had developed and Coulter, as well as playing piano on the record, had brought in other instrumentalists as well; the album featured "Scorn Not His Simplicity", a song that Coulter had composed about his own son, who had Down syndrome, as well as a poem penned by Luke Kelly entitled "For What Died The Sons Of Róisín?". The album was released on CD with a re-ordered track listing. "Alabama'58" "The Captains and the Kings" "School Days Over" "Sé Fáth Mo Bhuartha" "Scorn Not His Simplicity" "For What Died the Sons of Róisín?" "Joe Hill" "Ojos Negros" "The Button Pusher" "The Bonny Boy" "The Battle of the Somme/Freedom Come-All-Ye" "Biddy Mulligan" "The Peat Bog Soldiers"