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

A set of two or more mechanical vibrating systems connected so that they interact with one another.

→ coupled; → system;

The act of linking together or forming couples; a connection between two things so they move together.
The quality of coupled systems or the way they are coupled.

Noun from → couple; → -ing.

A parameter that indicates the strength of the interaction between two systems.

→ coupling; → coefficient.

In nuclear physics, a constant that indicates a measure of how strongly two particles interact.

→ coupling; → constant.

A natural satellite of Uranus discovered in 2003 (Uranus XXVII); mean diameter about 18 km, orbital semi-major axis about 74 km.

Discovered in 2003 using the Hubble Space Telescope. Named after a character in William Shakespeare's play Timon of Athens.

Asteroid 763 Cupido, which belongs to the Main Belt.

Cupido "desire," the Roman god of love (also known as Amor), often equated with Eros, one of the primordial gods in Greek mythology.

A group in which each element can be expressed as a power of any other element.

→ cyclic; → group.

1) To separate or detach; to cause to become disconnected or divergent.
2) Electronics: To reduce or eliminate the coupling of (one circuit or part to another).
3) Physics: To decrease or eliminate the shock waves of a nuclear explosion by having it take place underground.

→ de- + → couple.

Cosmology: In the early history of the Universe, separation of matter and radiation due to their non-interaction. At a redshift of 1000, that is about 400,000 years after the Big Bang, the temperature would have cooled to the point (4000 degrees Kelvin) where electrons and nuclei can recombine and form neutral hydrogen atoms. Since atoms do not scatter the radiation appreciably, free electrons were lacking, and the Universe became transparent to radiation. Same as → recombination. See also → decoupling era.

Verbal noun of decouple, from → de- + → couple + → -ing.

The era some 400,000 years after the → Big Bang, when the cosmic → blackbody radiation was last scattered by the matter. → decoupling. Same as → recombination era and → last scattering epoch.

→ decoupling; → era.

A mechanism predicted by theoretical models of → supernova explosion that operates after the → supernova shock fails to deliver a → prompt supernova explosion. The delayed supernova explosion mechanism assumes that a few tenth of a second after the → iron core collapse, the supernova shock is stalled due to energy dissipation. The material between the → protoneutron star and the stalled shock is mainly disintegrated into neutrons and protons due to the high temperatures (a few MeV) in this region. As the → neutrinos coming from the protoneutron star run through this material, a fraction of the neutrinos are captured by the → nucleons, and their energy is deposited in the material. As a result, the material behind the shock is heated by the neutrinos. If this neutrino heating is efficient enough, the stalled shock can be reinvigorated to bring about a supernova explosion.

→ delay; → supernova; → explosion.

Forcible division into pieces of an object. → tidal disruption.

From L. disruptio "a breaking asunder," noun of action from p.p. stem of disrumpere "break apart, split, shatter, break to pieces," from → dis- "apart" + rumpere "to break."

Gosixt, past stem of gosixtan "to tear away, to beark off."

A process by which the nucleosynthesis products inside a star are drawn to upper layers of the star. → first dredge-up; → second dredge-up; → third dredge-up.

From M.E. (Scots) dreg-, O.E. draeg- (in drægnet "dragnet"), akin to dragan "to draw" + up.

Birunkašid, past stem of birun kašidan, from birun "out, the outside" (Mid.Pers. bêron, from bê "outside, out, away" + rôn "side, direction," Av. ravan- "(course of a) river") + kašidan "to draw," Mid.Pers. kašitan, Av. karš- "to draw," Skt. kars-, kársati "to pull, drag, plough," Gk. pelo, pelomai "to be busy, to bustle."

The outcome of a → merger process between two galaxies, each with its own central → supermassive black hole (SMBH), resulting in a remnant galaxy hosting two SMBHs. Simulations of → galaxy mergers show there should be lots of dual → active galactic nuclei (AGN) visible at less than 10 kpc separations. As of 2015 more than 100 known dual supermassive black holes have been found. See also → binary supermassive black hole.

→ dual; → supermassive; → black; → hole.

1) To make an exact copy of.
2) A copy exactly like an original.

From L. duplicatus, p.p. of duplicare "to double," from duo, → two + plicare "to fold," → multiply.

Dotâyidan, "to double," infinitive from dotâyi, → double.

An act or instance of duplicating; the state of being duplicated.

Verbal noun of → duplicate.

The process whereby a → bound system, such as a → binary system or a → globular cluster, is broken apart.

→ dynamical; → disruption.

The thirteenth known moon of Jupiter, discovered in 1905 by Charles Perrine.

In Gk. mythology, Elara was the mother by Zeus of the giant Tityus.

Same as → fine-structure constant.

→ electromagnetic; → coupling; → constant.

In an → optical system, the image of the → aperture stop formed in → object space. See also → exit pupil.

→ entrance; → pupil.