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

1) The state or quality of being useful; usefulness.
2) Having, or made for, useful practical purposes. → utility software.

M.E. utilite, from O.Fr. utilite "usefulness," earlier utilitet, from L. utilitatem "usefulness, profit," from utilis "usable," from uti "to use."

Hudemandi, from hudemand "utile," from hudé "use" (as in bihudé "useless, vain, absurd"), from Mid.Pers. hudâg "good, useful, beneficent;" Av. hūdā- "doing good, producing wealth," from hū-, hu-, → eu-, + Av./O.pers. dā- "to give, grant, put," dadāiti "he gives;" Mid.Pers./Mod.Pers. dâdan "to give, put" (cf. Skt. dadáti "he gives;" Gk. tithenai "to place, put, set," didomi "I give;" L. dare "to give, offer;" Rus. delat' "to do;" O.H.G. tuon, Ger. tun, O.E. don "to do;" PIE base *dhe- "to put, to do") + -mand(i)

A part of the system software designed to support the operation of application software and is used to manage the computer files. Examples of utility software are disk diagnosis program, backup software, password generation software, and virus protection software. Also called utilities.

→ utility; → software.

Logic: Of an argument, whether or not the conclusion follows logically from the premises and the allowable syllogisms of the logical system being used.

Quality noun from → valid.

The quality, state, or degree of being variable or changeable.

Quality noun from → variable.

A measure of variability of a star (such as Welch-Stetson variability index) which combines the information from two passbands assuming that changes in the star's luminosity occur nearly simultaneously at all optical wavelengths.

→ variability; → index.

Of a rotating body, a vector of magnitude ω (→ angular velocity) pointing in the direction of advance of a right-hand screw which is turned in the direction of rotation.

→ vector; → angular; → velocity.

A → tensor density of → order 1.

→ vector; → density.

The time rate of change of position in a given direction, measured as length per unit time. → speed.

L. velocitatem (nominative velocitas) "swiftness, speed," from velox (genitive velocis) "swift."

Tondâ, from tond "swift, rapid, brisk; fierce, severe" (Mid.Pers. tund "sharp, violent;" Sogdian tund "violent;" cf. Skt. tod- "to thrust, give a push," tudáti "he thrusts;" L. tundere "to thrust, to hit" (Fr. percer, E. pierce, ultimately from L. pertusus, from p.p. of pertundere "to thrust or bore through;" PIE base *(s)teud- "to thrust, to beat") + noun suffix -â.

A plot of the radial velocity of an object against time, derived from the Doppler shift of spectral lines.

→ velocity; → curve.

The → standard deviation of a velocity → distribution. It indicates how objects of the sample move relative to one another. Objects with similar velocities have a small velocity dispersion, whereas objects with very different velocities have a large velocity dispersion.

→ velocity; → dispersion.

Fluid Mechanics: The rate at which the velocity changes with the distance across the flow. When a fluid flows past a stationary wall, the fluid right close to the wall does not move. However, away from the wall the flow speed is not zero. Therefore a velocity gradient exists, which is due to adhesive, cohesive, and frictional forces. The amount of the velocity gradient is characteristic of the fluid.

→ velocity; → gradient.

In the theory of → radiation-driven winds, an equation that describes the behavior of the → wind velocity of → hot stars as a function of distance from the star. This velocity β-law is given by the expression: v(r) = v_∞(1 - R_*/r)^β, where v_∞ is the → terminal velocity, R_* is the stellar radius, and r the distance from the center. For → O-type stars, the exponent is estimated to be β = 0.8.

→ velocity; → law.

A → physical constant which represents the ultimate speed limit for anything moving through space, according to the theory of → special relativity. It is the speed of propagation of → electromagnetic waves in a vacuum, equal to 299,792.458 km/s (nearly 3 x 10⁸ m/s). The velocity of light appears as the connecting link between mass and energy in the → mass-energy relation. Usually denoted by c, from L. celeritas "swiftness," from celer "swift," → acceleration.

→ velocity; → speed; → light.

→ dynamic pressure.

→ velocity; → pressure.

A plot of the fluid velocity as a function of position.

→ velocity; → profile.

Of a dynamical system, a three-dimensional space which consists of the set of values that the velocity can take (v_x, v_y, v_z). → phase space.

→ velocity; → space.

The linear relation wherein all galaxies are moving away from one another, with velocities that are greater with increasing distance of the galaxy. Same as → Hubble's law.

→ velocity; → distance; → relation.

The conditions under which Venus can be seen from Earth as it travels in its orbit around the Sun. The → synodic period of Venus, that is the time Venus takes to be seen again from the Earth in the same position with respect to the Sun, is 583,92 days or just over 19 months. When Venus is between Earth and Sun (→ inferior conjunction) or on the far side of the sun (→ superior conjunction), it is invisible in the Sun's glare. Since its → greatest elongation from the Sun is never more than 47°, Venus appears only as "the morning star" and "the evening star." So at its greatest → western elongation Venus will rise about three hours ahead of the Sun and at its greatest → eastern elongation it will set about three hours after sunset. Its entire cycle is as follows:
Day 0: Superior conjunction, "full Venus."
Day 35: Venus appears in evening sky.
Day 221: Greatest → eastern elongation, "last quarter."
Day 271: Retrogression of Venus begins.
Day 286: Disappearance from the evening sky.
Day 292: Inferior conjunction, "new Venus."
Day 298: Venus appears in morning sky.
Day 313: Retrogression ends.
Day 362: Greatest → western elongation, "first quarter."
Day 549: Disappearance from morning sky.
Day 584: Superior conjunction, "full venus."
Therefore, Venus is visible as an evening star for 286 Earth days, as a morning star for 251 days, and is invisible for 47 days.

In addition, the orbital periods of Earth and Venus are closely correlated. After 8 Earth years or 13 Venus orbits, the two planets assume almost the same relative positions -- just 0.032 percent away from a perfect orbital resonance of 8:13. After this period of about 2920 Earth days, Venus appears just 1.5° (about 22 hours) in advance of its former position. Moreover, Venus exhibit → phases because its orbit lies within the Earth's. When Venus situated on the far side of the Sun from Earth, the planet is fully illuminated from our point of view. But its disk is small, just 10'' across, because it is nearly 300 million km away. When Venus is almost closest to Earth, on the near side of the Sun, it's about 60 million km away. Then it appears as a slender but much brighter crescent with a disk nearly 50'' across. See also → transit of Venus.

→ Venus; → visibility.

In logical positivism philosophy, the claim that a statement is literally meaningful (it expresses a proposition) if and only if it either actually has been verified or could at least in principle be verified.

Quality noun from → verifiable; → principle.

The property of a → fluid that resists the force tending to cause the fluid to flow. Viscosity may be thought of as the internal → friction of two fluid layers which flow parallel to each other at different speeds. The cause of viscosity is the transport of → momentum by the molecules from one layer to the other. Viscosity is given by η = φ.u.λ.ρ, where φ is a coefficient which depends on the nature of the interaction between the molecules, u is the average velocity of thermal motion of the molecules, λ is the → mean free path, and ρ the → density of the fluid. Also called → dynamic viscosity or → absolute viscosity. See also → kinematic viscosity.

Noun from → viscous; → -ity.