An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A → radiation-driven wind of → Wolf-Rayet and → O stars, which is not homogeneous, and contains compressions and rarefactions in the form of density clumps. Observationally, wind clumping appears as moving, small-scale structures in spectral line profiles. Indirect indicators of wind clumping include: electron scattering wings of emission lines, too-weak observed UV line profiles, and shapes of X-ray lines. The most likely physical explanation for the presence of these clumps is an instability in radiatively-driven winds. The inclusion of a clumping factor in the models of W-R winds reduces the → mass loss rates by a factor ~ 2-4 relative to homogeneous models. See also → clumping factor.

→ clumpy; → wind.

Of a → molecular cloud, the property of being made up of → clumps.
The extent with which a molecular cloud is → clumpy.

Clumpiness, from → clumpy + → -ness.

Gudegi from gudé, → clump, + -gi suffix forming noun from adjectives ending in -é.

The massing together of material to form clumps. → wind clumping.

→ clump; → -ing.

The ratio f_cl = <ρ²> / <ρ >², where ρ represents the → stellar wind density and the brackets mean values. Unclumped wind has f_cl = 1 and → clumping becomes significant for f_cl≅ 4.

→ clumping; → factor.

Of a → molecular cloud, being composed of → clumps.

Clumpy, from → clump + -y suffix meaning "full of or characterized by," from O.E. -ig, from P.Gmc. *-iga, akin to Gk. -ikos, L. -icus, → -ics.

Gudedâr, from gudé, → clump, + dâr "having, possessor," from dâštan "to have, to possess," O.Pers./Av. root dar- "to hold, keep back, maitain, keep in mind," Skt. dhr-, dharma- "law," Gk. thronos "elevated seat, throne," L. firmus "firm, stable," Lith. daryti "to make," PIE *dher- "to hold, support."

An irregularly shaped, clumpy → star-forming galaxy that does not fall anywhere on the → Hubble sequence and appears frequently at → redshifts z ~ 1-4. Galaxies at z ≤ 1 with similar morphologies and enhanced → star formation have been identified, but become less common with decreasing redshift. Clumpy galaxies are prominent in the → early Universe.

→ clumpy; → galaxy.

1) A group of the same astronomical objects gathered or occurring closely together, such as → cluster of galaxies, → globular cluster, → open cluster, and so on.
2) To gather or grow into clusters. → Arches cluster, → Beehive Cluster, → bound cluster, → Brocchi's Cluster, → Bullet cluster, → Central cluster, → cluster core, → cluster mass function, → cluster of galaxies, → clustering, → clustering law, → Coma cluste, → Galactic center cluster, → galactic cluster, → galaxy cluster, → globular cluster, → Hercules cluster, → hierarchical clustering, → intercluster medium, → Local Supercluster, → moving cluster, → open cluster, → Perseus Cluster, → pre-cluster core, → protocluster, → rich cluster, → S cluster, → Sgr A* cluster, → star cluster, → super star cluster, → supercluster, → superclustering, → tight star cluster, → Trapezium cluster, → unbound cluster, → Ursa Major cluster.

O.E. clyster "cluster," probably akin to O.E. clott "clot".

Xušé "cluster, a bunch of grapes, an ear of corn," (Laki huša), from Mid.Pers. hošag or xušak; cf. Skt. guccha- "bundle, bunch of flowers, cluster of blossom, clump;" xušé bastan, with bastan "to bind, shut; to clot; to form seed buds", from Mid.Pers. bastan/vastan "to bind, shut," Av./O.Pers. band- "to bind, fetter," banda- "band, tie," Skt. bandh- "to bind, tie, fasten," PIE *bhendh- "to bind," cf. Ger. binden, E. bind.

The central part of a cluster (globular, galaxies, etc.) where the spatial density of the objects making up the cluster is much higher than the average value.

→ cluster; → core.

The fraction of → star formation which happens in → bound clusters. It is defined as the ratio between the → cluster formation rate and → star formation rate (Bastian, 2008, MNRAS 390, 759, arxiv/0807.4687).

→ cluster; → formation; → efficiency.

A parameter used in star formation models representing the ratio of the total mass in → star clusters to the corresponding age range (Bastian, 2008, MNRAS 390, 759, arxiv/0807.4687).

→ cluster; → formation; → rate.

An empirical power-law relation representing the number of clusters as a function of their mass. It is defined as: N(M)dM ∝ M ^-αdM, where the exponent α has an estimated value of about 2 and dM is the mass interval. It is believed that this is a universal law applying to a variety of objects including globular clusters, massive young clusters, and H II regions.

→ cluster; → mass; → function.

Same as → galaxy cluster.

→ cluster; → galaxy.

Grouping of a number of similar astronomical objects.

Noun from verb → cluster.

An empirical power-law representing the number of stellar clusters as a function of the number of stars per cluster within an interval. It is expressed as: N(N_*) dN_*∝ N_*^-α dN_*, where N(N_*) is the number of clusters containing N_* stars and dN_* is the interval in star number. It is believed that this relationship applies to a variety of systems, including stellar clusters, globular clusters, H II regions (Oey et al. 2004, AJ 127, 1632).

→ clustering; → law.

A disorderly heap or assemblage; a state or condition of confusion.

Variant of clotter (now obsolete), from to clot + -er.

Âluzé, from Kurd. âluz, Tabari âluz, âliz "messy, disorderly, untidy," Dehxodâ âlofté "astonished; mad; broken," âloftan "to rage, grow mad."

See → cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR).

CMB, short for → Cosmic  → Microwave  → Background.

A plot displaying the amplitude of → cosmic microwave background anisotropy as a function of angular size or → multipole index. Same as → angular fluctuation spectrum. The plot, based the on WMAP and other data, shows a plateau at large angular or length scales (→ Sachs-Wolfe plateau), then a series of peaks at progressively smaller scales. These features arise from the gravity-driven acoustic oscillations of the coupled photon-baryon fluid in the early Universe (→ baryon acoustic oscillation). In particular, a strong peak is seen on an angular scale (at l ~220), corresponding to the physical length of the → sound horizon at the → recombination era. It depends on the curvature of space. If space is positively curved, then this sound horizon scale will appear larger on the sky than in a flat Universe (the first peak will move to the left). The second peak (l ~ 550), which is the first harmonic of the main peak, relates to the baryon/photon ratio. The third peak can be used to help constrain the total matter density.

→ angular; → fluctuation; → spectrum.

The gravitational effect of the intervening large-scale potentials on the → cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). This effect smoothes out the temperature peaks and alters the statistics of the CMB.

→ CMB; → lensing.

The simplest molecule formed by the → cyano radical. The CN molecule is of considerable astrophysical importance, since many of its transition lines/bands are observed in various astronomical objects: interstellar medium, comets, various stars such as late-type F and G-dwarfs, and late-type giants. CN was the second interstellar molecule, after → CH (methylidine), to be identified; toward the bright star → Zeta Ophiuchi at ultraviolet wavelengths (A. McKellar, 1940 ASP Conf. Ser. 52, 187). CN was also one of the earliest molecules to be detected in other galaxies (Henkel et al. 1988, A&A 201L, 23).

→ cyano-; → molecule.

Referring to → carbon, → nitrogen, and → oxygen, as in → CNO cycle and → CNO star.

→ CNO.