Od 25 lat naukowcy z Centrum Astronomicznego im. Mikołaja Kopernika badają własności gwiazd i odległych galaktyk.

For the Gdansk Library, participation in the Nights of Museums is an effective way of execution of its didactic and science-promoting goals defined in its mission. The interesting main themes, presentation of the library’s rich collections, as well as the involvement of the organisers and the participating staff members all translated into the success of the nine editions of the event between 2011 and 2019. Their subsequent main themes were: A night with Johannes Hevelius from the treasury of the Gdansk Library, Fashion for books – fashion in books, Horror in the library, The world of the library on one night, Taking a book to further than the horizon, The Library as a Garden, Gedanum domus nostra – Our home – Gdansk, In mari vita tua – In the sea is your life, Genius – on the 500th death anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci. During the past Night of Museums, visitors to the Library were most impressed by the displays in the Reading Room of Historical Collections. Such presentations are sometimes the only opportunity to have a close contact with valuable manuscripts, old printed books, prints, and other special collections, and to hear competent staff members talking about them. Regular attractions of the Night of Museums included displays referring to the theme of the event in the exhibition room and a sale of library publications in the hall of the historical building at ul. Wałowa 15. The subsequent organisers of the project, also in cooperation with other cultural institutions from the Tri-City, each time enriched the programme with fascinating talks, thematic workshops, and even concerts. During the subsequent editions of the Night of Museums, the Gdansk Library hosted an average of 670 visitors, which testifies to the value of this tool of promotion of the library.

Codziennie w ziemską atmosferę wpada ponad sto ton materii międzyplanetarnej. Większość stanowią drobny pył i maleńkie okruchy skalne. Jednak średnio raz na kilkaset tysięcy lat zderza się z nami ciało o średnicy większej od kilometra, a więc zdolne swym upadkiem spowodować zagładę dużego kraju.

New information about presence and features of some Lecanora species as well as their ecology and distribution in Antarctica are provided. Lecanora dispersa (Pers.) Sommerf. is confirmed to occur in the Antarctic region; L. sverdrupiana Řvst. is recorded for the first time from maritime Antarctica; L. torrida Vain. is reported as new for that Antarctic area and for the southern hemisphere. An attempt to summarize the present state of knowledge for the genus Lecanora in the Antarctic region is made. Several species, which require more in depth studies, are briefly discussed and an up-to-date list of species occurring in Antarctica is included.

Over 100 metric tons of interplanetary matter enter the Earth's atmosphere every day, mostly consisting of dust and tiny rock fragments. However, around once every few hundred thousand years an object larger than 1 km in diameter collides with our planet, with the impact able to destroy a large country.

An obituary of Cecylia Zofia Gałczyńska, an archaeologist and librarian, who wrote among other things about the collection of ancient art in the Jagiellonian University’s Museum and the history of Szczecin, in particular prominent scholars from this city, Erwin Ackerknecht and Walther Amelung.

ARGUMENTUM

Marcellus Górkiewicz, archaelogus Polonus, anno 1879 rogatu Henrici Schliemann dirigebat excavationes duorum tumulorum prope locum antiquae Troiae sitorum. Quorum imagines ab eo pictae apparent in libro Schliemanniano, cui titulus est Ilios, anno 1881 Lipsiae edito.

The subject of this article are the Egyptian inspirations in the graphic works of Ewa Siedlecka-Kotula, an artist living and working in Kraków in the second half of the 19th century. During the period from May 1948 until June 1949 she resided in Cairo, a productive period which came to fruition in the form of a special cycle of linocuts, executed in 1969 and based on earlier sketches. The series comprises of the following works: “Kobiety/Women”, “Woda/Water”, “Ryż/Rice”, “Tkacze/Weavers”, “Pasterka/ Female shepherd”, and “Barany/Rams”, depicting contemporary Egyptians and their typical, everyday tasks. During her stay in Egypt the artist also designed the exhibition graphics for the 16th Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition in Cairo. Her works were put on display at an individual exhibition (December 1948). She also participated in the exhibitions entitled “Le salon des femmes-artistes” in Cairo Women’s Club (March 1949) and “France-Égypte” in the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo (May 1949). Ewa Siedlecka-Kotula’s works met with much interest at that time. Unfortunately, references to antiquity are very scarce in her art, and include only a watercolour showing an Egyptian peasant by a shaduf (fig. 1), and a drawing of a female offering-bringer figurine from the tomb of Nakhti, overseer of the seal, in Asyut (early 12th dynasty, around 1900 BC). The latter drawing was perhaps made in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and most likely represents a statuette whose current fate remains unknown, which would make this drawing an exceptional record.