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

The meridian transit of a star between the celestial pole and the north point of the horizon. Same as → lower culmination. → superior culmination.

→ inferior; → culmination.

The act or process of inseminating.

Verbal noun of → inseminate; → -tion.

Between or among → nations; involving two or more nations. → International Astronomical Union, → International Atomic Time, → International Date Line, and so forth.

International, from → inter- + nation, from O.Fr. nacion, from L. nationem (nom. natio) "nation, stock, race," literally "that which has been born," from natus, p.p. of nasci "be born;" cognate with Pers. zâdan→ generate, + → -al.

Jahâni "of or relating to the world" (Fr. mondial), → world.
Andarnafâni, from andar-, → inter-, + nafâni, adj. of nafân "family relation; kinship," proposal for "nation," from naf, from Mid.Pers. nâf "family," nâfag "navel," naft "descendant," Parthian n'p "family" (Mod.Pers. nâf "navel"); Av. nāfa- "navel, near relationship, family," hama.nāfaēna- "of the same family;" cf. Skt. nábhya- "hub (of wheel);" Gk. omphalos "navel;" L. umbilicus "navel;" O.H.G. nabalo "navel;" Ger. Nabel "navel" + -ân suffix denoting family relationship, as in Bâbakân "family of Bâbak."

An astronomical association of astronomers that is the controlling body of world astronomy. It was founded in Brussels in 1919.

→ international; → astronomical; → union.

A weighted average of the time kept by about 200 caesium atomic clocks in over 50 national laboratories worldwide. It has been available since 1955, and became the international standard on which UTC is based on January 1972.

→ international; → atomic; → time.

An imaginary line following approximately the 180th meridian which, by international agreement in 1884, marks the beginning or or end of a day. The regions to the east of which are counted as being one day earlier in their calendar dates than the regions to the west.

→ international; → date; → line.

The metric system of units based on the → meter, → kilogram, → second, → ampere, → kelvin, and → candela. Also called MSKA system. Other SI units are → hertz, → radian, → newton, → joule, → watt, → coulomb, → volt, → ohm, → farad, → weber, and → tesla.

→ international; → system; → unit.

A satellite dedicated to spectroscopic observations of astronomical objects in ultraviolet wavelengths, launched in 1978. It was an international collaboration between → NASA, the → European Space Agency (ESA), and the United Kingdom's Science and Engineering Research Council. It operated until September 1996 and collected over 70,000 spectra. IUE consisted of a 45-cm telescope (f/15) equipped with two spectrographs operating in the ranges 1850-3300 Å and 1150-2000 Å. Each spectrograph had a high-resolution and a low-resolution mode with resolutions of about 0.2 Å and 6 Å respectively.

→ international; → ultraviolet; → explorer.

An international cooperation whose objective is to facilitate the international coordination and collaboration necessary for the development and deployment of the tools, systems and organizational structures necessary to enable the international utilization of astronomical archives as an integrated and interoperating → Virtual Observatory. The IVOA, created in 2002, now comprises 20 Virtual Observatory programs from various countries and international organizations.

→ international; → virtual; → observatory; → alliance.

A slight difference between the → abundances of → isotopes of the same → chemical element owing to → physical or → chemical  → processes. It results in the → enrichment or → depletion of an isotope. Same as → isotopic fractionation.

→ isotope; → fractionation

Same as → isotope fractionation.

→ isotopic; → fractionation

The instant of culmination when the star passes between the pole and the horizon, having an hour angle of 12h. Lower culmination for non-circumpolar objects occur below the horizon and is thus unobservable. Same as → inferior culmination. See also → upper culmination.

→ lower; → culmination.

The interval of a complete lunar cycle, between one new Moon and the next, that is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds. or 29.5306 days. → synodic month.

M.E. lunacyon, from M.L. lunation-.

Mahâyand, literally "coming, arrival of the Moon," from mâh→ moon + âyand "coming, arrival," present stem of âmadan "to come"; O.Pers. aitiy "goes;" Av. ay- "to go, to come," aēiti "goes;" Skt. e- "to come near," eti "arrival;" Gk ion " going," neut. pr.p. of ienai "to go;" L. ire "to go;" Goth. iddja "went," Lith. eiti "to go;" Rus. idti "to go;" from PIE base *ei- "to go, to walk."

In terrestrial magnetism, the difference between → true north (the axis around which the earth rotates) and magnetic north (the direction the needle of a compass will point,→ magnetic pole).

→ magnetic; → declination.

Same as → magnetic dip or → dip.

→ magnetic; → inclination.

A large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular state. → national, → international.

Nation, from O.Fr. nacion, from L. nationem (nom. natio) "nation, stock, race," literally "that which has been born," from natus, p.p. of nasci "to be born;" cognate with Pers. zâdan, → generate.

Nafân, from Av. nāfaēna- "family," hama.nāfaēna- "of the same family," related to nāfa- "near relationship, family, navel," napāt- "grandson" (Mod.Pers. navé "grandson"); cf. Mid.Pers. nâf "family," nâfag "navel," naft "descendant, " Parthian nap "family" (Mod.Pers. nâf "navel"); Sogd. nâf "country;" Sorani Kurd. natawa (Kurmanji Kurd. netewe) "family, race, nation," from *nafata (with metathesis); cf. Skt. nábhi- "nave, navel, central part; home, origin;" Gk. anepsios "cousin, sister's son;" L. nepos "grandchild; descendant;" O.Lithuanian neputis "grandson; nephew;" O.H.G. nabalo "navel;" Ger. Nabel "navel;" O.E. nefa "grandson; descendant;" + -ân suffix denoting family relationship, as in Bâbakân "family of Bâbak."

Of, involving, or relating to a nation as a whole. → National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

→ nation; → -al.

A federal agency of the United States government founded in 1958 for civil aeronautical research and space exploration, superseding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Its goals include improving human understanding of the universe, the solar system, and Earth and establishing a permanent human presence in space. NASA is headquarted at Washington, D.C., and operates several research, development, and test facilities, as follows alphabetically: 1) Ames Research Center; 2) Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards, California, used for flight testing and as a landing site for the Space Shuttle; 3) Glenn Research Center at Cleveland, Ohio, concerned with aircraft and rocket propulsion; 4) Goddard Space Flight Center; 5) Jet Propulsion Laboratory; 6) Johnson Space center; 7) Kennedy Space Center; 8) Langley Research Center at Hampton, Virginia, which carries out research in aeronautics and space technology; 9) Marshall Space Flight Center; 10) the Space Telescope Science Institute; 11) Stennis Space Center, near Bay St Louis, Mississippi, for testing rocket engines; and 12) Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, which manages NASA's sounding rocket and scientific balloon programs.

→ national; → aeronautics; → space; administration, verbal noun of administer, from M.E. amynistre, from O.Fr. aministrer, from L. administrare "to serve, carry out, manage," from → ad- "to" + ministrare "to serve," from minister "servant, priest's assistant," from minus, minor "less," hence "subordinate," + comparative suffix *-teros.

Sâzmân, → organization; fazâyi pertaining to fazâ, → space; Âmrikâ "United State of America."

Loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially: a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups (Merriam-Webster.com).

→ national; → -ism.

1) National status; specifically: a legal relationship involving allegiance on the part of an individual and usually protection on the part of the state b : membership in a particular nation.
2) Membership in a particular nation (Merriam-Webster.com).

→ national; → -ity.