An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

A variable → red supergiant star of → spectral type M2 Ia in the → constellation → Cepheus. Also called → Mu Cephei. Its → apparent magnitude is usually about 4.5 and varies from 3.6 to 5.1. It is also a → triple star.

Garnet "a deep-red color," from the more or less transparent, usually red, silicate mineral that has a vitreous luster. So named by William Herschel from its unusual deep reddish tint. From O.Fr. grenat "garnet," from M.L. granatum, originally an adj., "of dark red color," probably abstracted from pomegranate, from M.L. pomum granatum "apple with many seeds," from pome "apple, fruit" + grenate "having grains."

Nârsang, from nâr, from anâr "pomegranate," from Mid.Pers. anâr "pomegranate" + sang, → stone.

A substance whose physical state is such that it always occupies the whole of the space in which it is contained.

Gas, from Du. gas, probably from Gk. khaos "empty space," → chaos. The term gas was coined by the Belgian physician Jean-Baptiste van Helmont (1579-1644) to designate aerial spirits.

Gâz, loanword from Fr.

For a given quantity of an → ideal gas, the product of its → pressure and the → volume divided by the → absolute temperature (R = PV/T).

→ gas; → constant.

An equation that links the pressure and volume of a quantity of gas with the absolute temperature. For a gram-molecule of a perfect gas, PV = RT, where P = pressure, V = volume, T = absolute temperature, and R = the gas constant.

→ gas; → equation.

A → giant planet composed mainly of → hydrogen and → helium with → traces of → water, → methane, → ammonia, and other hydrogen compounds. Gas giants have a small rocky or metallic core. The core would be at high temperatures (as high as 20,000 K) and extreme pressures. There are four gas giants in our solar system: → Jupiter, → Saturn, → Uranus, and → Neptune. Another category of gas giants is → ice giants. Ice giants are also composed of small amounts of hydrogen and helium. However, they have high levels of what are called "ices." These ices include methane, water, and ammonia.

→ gas; → giant.

A kind of laser where the lasing medium is a gas or a mixture of gases that can be excited with an electric discharge. The first gas laser to operate successfully was built by A. Javan and William R. Bennette at the Bell Telephone Laboratories. This laser used a mixture of helium and neon as the active medium and produced a continuous beam rather than a series of pulses. This laser operated in the infrared region of the spectrum at 1.15 micrometres. A few years later Kumar Patel developed the CO₂ laser.

→ gas; → laser.

The metallicity derived from observations of the gas component of a galaxy. It is mainly measured from optical → emission lines using primarily oxygen abundances. The gas → metallicity is one of the most important tools to investigate the evolutionary history of galaxies. The reason is that the gas metallicity of galaxies is basically determined by their star-formation history. Recent observational studies has allowed the investigation of the gas metallicity even in → high redshift beyond z = 1, such as → Lyman break galaxies, submillimeter-selected high-z galaxies, and so on. Such observational insights on the metallicity evolution of galaxies provide constraints on the theoretical understandings of the formation and the evolution of galaxies.

→ gas; → metallicity.

An aggregate of several different kinds of gases which do not react chemically under the conditions being considered. A gas mixture constitutes a homogeneous thermodynamical system.

→ gas; → mixture.

The → ionized component of a → comet's → tail, driven nearly straight away from the → Sun Sun by the → solar wind. solar wind. Also called → ion tail, → plasma tail, and → Type I tail.

→ gas; → tail.

A galaxy which has a relatively low gas content. More specifically, a galaxy whose → baryonic matter is chiefly in the form of stars and has very little → interstellar matter.

→ gas; → poor; → galaxy.

A galaxy, usually young, which has a relatively important gas content.

→ gas; → rich; → galaxy.

The mass ratio of gas to dust. It amounts to approximately 100 in the → interstellar medium, but may vary in → molecular clouds and → circumstellar disks due to dust → grain evaporation, → dust settling, → condensation of gas, etc. The gas-to-dust ratio depends on the → metallicity. It is larger in galaxies with lower metallicity.

→ gas; → dust; → ratio.

1) Existing in the → state of a gas.
2) Pertaining to or having the characteristics of gas.

→ gas; → -eous.

An → isotope separation process using the different diffusion speeds of → atoms or → molecules for separation. This process is used to divide → uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) into two separate streams of U-235 and U-238. Before processing by gaseous diffusion, uranium is first converted from → uranium oxide (U₃O₈) to UF₆. The UF₆ is heated and converted from a solid to a gas. The gas is then forced through a series of compressors and converters that contain porous barriers. Because uranium-235 has a slightly lighter isotopic mass than uranium-238, UF₆ molecules made with uranium-235 diffuse through the barriers at a slightly higher rate than the molecules containing uranium-238. At the end of the process, there are two UF₆ streams, with one stream having a higher concentration of uranium-235 than the other (EVS, a Division of Argonne National Laboratory).

→ gaseous; → diffusion.

An → H II region, a → planetary nebula, or a → supernova remnant.

→ gaseous; → nebula.

1) (n.) A standard of measure or measurement, size, or quantity.
2) Any of a wide variety of devices or instruments used for measuring a parameter or characteristic of an object, such as its dimension, quantity, or mechanical accuracy.
3) Physics: One of the family of choices for a constant in the expression of → potential energy in a central force field. Force is connected with potential energy by the relation F = - ∂U/∂r, U = ∫F.dr. The upper limit in the integral can be chosen arbitrarily. The potential energy is usually considered zero at infinity.
4) (v.) To determine the exact dimensions, capacity, quantity, or force of; measure.

From Fr. jauge "gauging rod," perhaps from Frankish galga "rod, pole for measuring;" cf. O.N. gelgja "pole, perch;" O.H.G. galgo; Lith. zalga "pole, perch;" Arm. dzalk "pole;" E. gallows; see below.

Gaz "a yard for measuring cloth; a length of 24 finger-breadths, or six hands; the tamarisk-tree," from Mid.Pers. gaz "tamarisk," may be of the same origin as gauge. In verbal form with kardan "to do, to make" (Mid.Pers. kardan; O.Pers./Av. kar- "to do, make, build;" Av. kərənaoiti "he makes;" cf. Skt. kr- "to do, to make," krnoti "he makes, he does," karoti "he makes, he does," karma "act, deed;" PIE base k^wer- "to do, to make").

A class of elementary particles that includes the gluon, photon, W⁺, W^-, and Z⁰ particles, each having an integral spin.

→ gauge; → boson.

The mathematical group associated with a particular set of gauge transformations.

→ gauge; → group.

The invariance of any field theory under gauge transformation.

→ gauge; → invariance.

A principle underlying the quantum-mechanical description of the three non-gravitational forces. It allows a system to behave in the same way even though it has undergone various transformations. The earliest physical theory which had a gauge symmetry was Maxwell's electrodynamics.

→ gauge; → symmetry.