An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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The difference between the measured value of a quantity x₀ and its (true) actual value x, given by Δx = x₀ - x. See also: → relative error.

→ absolute; → error.

In a system of moist air, the ratio of the mass of water vapor to the total volume of the system. → humidity.

→ absolute; → humidity.

A star's → intrinsic brightness, i.e. the total amount of energy radiated by the star per second. → Luminosity is often expressed in units of watts or erg/sec. The Sun's absolute luminosity is 3.86 × 10³³ erg/sec.

→ absolute; → luminosity.

1) The → magnitude a star would have if it were at a distance of 10 → parsecs in a void space, without → interstellar absorption. The absolute magnitude is usually deduced from the → visual magnitude, measured through a V filter (→ UBV system), when it is written as M_V. If it is defined for another wavelength, it gets another index (U, B, etc). If the radiation on all wavelengths is included, it becomes absolute → bolometric magnitude, M_bol. The Sun has the absolute magnitude + 4.8. Most of the stars have absolute magnitudes ranging between -9 (→ supergiants) and + 19 (→ red dwarfs) (M.S.: SDE).
2) The brightness a → comet or → asteroid would have if it were at a distance of 1 → astronomical unit both from the Sun and the Earth and were completely illuminated by the Sun (M.S.: SDE).

→ absolute; → magnitude.

A measurement in which the comparison is directly with quantities whose units are basic units of the system. For example, the measurement of speed by measurements of distance and time is an absolute measurement, but the measurement of speed by a speedometer is not an absolute measurement. Note that the word absolute measurement implies nothing about → precision or → accuracy (IEEE Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms).

→ absolute; → measurement.

→ magnetic permeability.

→ absolute; → permeability.

A fixed space in which physical phenomena occur and whose properties do not depend on what occupies it, nor on the observer. It is a distinguished frame of reference that could show bodies to be truly moving or truly at rest. Absolute space is one of the basic assumptions of → Newtonian mechanics, but it was abandoned in Einstein's → special relativity. See also → absolute time; → space-time.

→ absolute; → space.

Also called → thermodynamic temperature, the value of a → temperature in the → Kelvin scale. It is is equal to the temperature on the → Celsius scale -273.15 °C.

→ absolute; → temperature.

A → tensor of → weight  → zero.

→ absolute; → tensor.

A universal time supposed to be the same for all observers at any place in the Universe. Absolute time is one of the foundations of → Newtonian mechanics, but it fails to account for physical phenomena in → reference frames with relative motion. Its abandoning was one of the starting points of → special relativity. See also → absolute space; → space-time.

→ absolute; → time.

For any → real number a, the non-negative value of a without regard to its sign; denoted by |a|. Same as → modulus. The absolute value of a is always either → positive or → zero, but never negative. The absolute value of a number may be thought of as its → distance from zero. The following rules hold:
|ab| = |a||b|
|a + b|  ≤  |a| + |b|
|a - b|  ≥  |a| - |b|
For a> 0, |x|  ≤  a if and only if -a  ≤  x  ≤  a.

→ absolute; → value.

Same as → viscosity and → dynamic viscosity.

→ absolute; → viscosity.

The → zero point of the → Kelvin scale of → temperature; the theoretical point at which all molecular activity ceases, -273.16 °C.

→ absolute; → zero.

1) General: To suck up or take up.
2) Physics: To retain → energy (radiation or sound, for example) or → matter wholly, without → reflection or → transmission.

M.Fr. absorber, from L. absorbere "to swallow up," from ab- "from" + sorbere "suck in;" PIE root *srebh- "to suck, absorb;" cf. Arm. arbi "I drank;" Gk. rhophein "to sup up, gulp down;" Lith. srebiu "to drink greedily;" Proto-Iranian *hrab- "to sip, suck (in)," cf. Pashto raw-, Shaghni râv-, Sariqoli rov-, Ishkashimi ruv- "to suck" (Cheung 2007), Pers. (prefixed) zâlu "leech."

Daršamidan, from daršam, from dar- "in, into" + šam, variant of šâm, as in âšâm, âšâmidan "to drink, to sip;" Av. šam- "to drink, sip, swallow;" Skt. cam, camati "to sip, drink, lick up, absorb."

Capable of being absorbed.

Absorbable, adj. from → absorb + → -able.

Daršamidani adj. from aršamidan "to absorb" + -i, → -able.

The ability of a solution or a layer of a substance to absorb → radiation, i.e. the ratio of the intensity of the light incident on the solution to the intensity transmitted by it, in logarithmic scale.

→ absorb; → -ance.

1) Any material or → substance that → absorbs.
2) Relating to or capable of → absorption.

Absorbent, from → absorb + -ent.

Daršamandé from aršam present stem of daršamidan, → absorb, + -andé suffix forming adj. and/or agent name.

Any medium that absorbs something.

→ absorb; → -er.

Optics: A strip or annulus of material, such as glass or film, whose density increases progressively from one end to the other. The function of the wedge is to weaken the light beam in an optical system.

Verbal adj. from → absorb; → wedge.

1) General: The process or fact of absorbing.
2) Physics: The action of energy or matter penetrating or being assimilated into a body of matter with no reflection or emission. → adsorption, → desorption, → sorption.
See also: → absorption band, → absorption coefficient, → absorption curve, → absorption feature, → absorption line, → absorption nebula, → absorption spectrum, → atmospheric absorption, → discrete absorption component, → foreground absorption, → intergalactic absorption, → internal absorption, → interstellar absorption, → mass absorption coefficient, → photoabsorption, → selective absorption, → self-absorption.

Verbal noun of → absorb; → -tion, from L. absorptionem.