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

The quality of state of being → ambiguous.

→ ambiguous; → -ity.

Having more than one possible interpretation or meaning.

From L. ambiguus "having double meaning; doubtful," from ambigere "to be uncertain," from → ambi- "both; around" + agere "to drive, lead," → act; cf. Av. az- "to drive, lead;" Pers. niyâz "need, want, misery,"

Ubâznâk, from ubâz, literally "having double directions," from ubâ, → ambi-, + âz, from Av. az- "to lead, direct, drive," → act, + -nâk adj. suffix.

Of considerable size, number, quantity, large.

M.E., northern England dialect, of unknown origin.

Bozorg, → large. Meh "great, large;" Mid.Pers. meh, mas; Av. maz-, masan-, mazant- "great, important," mazan- "greatness, majesty," mazišta- "greatest;" cf. Skt. mah-, mahant-; Gk. megas; L. magnus; PIE *meg- "great."

A theory which states that the → Universe came into existence in an "instantaneous" event some 14 billion years ago. Matter was created in that initial event and as time has gone by the Universe has expanded and the contents evolved into the galaxies and stars and of today. The Big Bang is sometimes described as an "explosion." However, matter and energy did not erupt into a pre-existing space, since they came into being simultaneously with space and time.

→ big; bang "a sudden loud noise, as of an explosion" (probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Icelandic banga "to hammer"). The term was coined by Fred Hoyle in 1950 in the course of discussions entitled "the Nature of the Universe" broadcasted by BBC. Hoyle's intention was a pejorative term in order to ridicule the theory which his own → steady state theory contested.

Meh Bâng, from meh "great, large," → big, + bâng "voice, sound, clamour," (Mid.Pers. vâng, Av. vaocanghê "to declare (by means of speech"), vacah- "word," from vac- "to speak, say," cf. Mod.Pers. vâžé "word," âvâz "voice, sound, song," Skt. vakti "speaks, says," vacas- "word;" Gk. epos "word," L. vox "voice;" PIE base *wek- "to speak").

→ Big Bang; → model.

The production of → light elements, roughly three minutes after the → Big Bang when the temperature of the → Universe dropped from 10³² K to approximately 10⁹ K. In a short time interval → protons and → neutrons collided to produce → deuterium. Most of the deuterium then fused with other protons and neutrons to produce → helium and a small amount of → tritium. The element → lithium 7 could also arise form the coalescence of one tritium and two deuterium nuclei. According to the Big Bang nucleosynthesis theory, roughly 25% of the mass of the Universe consists of helium. It also predicts about 0.01% deuterium, and even smaller quantities of lithium. These predictions depend critically on the → baryon-photon ratio. Same as → primordial nucleosynthesis.

→ Big Bang; → nucleosynthesis.

A hypothetical state of → infinite energy density representing an infinite → gravitational field and infinite → space-time curvature. The singularity arises from using Einstein's theory of → general relativity concerning gravity. We know, however, that when the density and heat become extremely large, quantum physics of gravity becomes important. Yet Einstein's equations ignore quantum effects. In other words, in certain extreme conditions, Einstein's equations do not apply.

→ Big Bang; → singularity.

→ Big Bang; → theory.

The broad continuum feature dominating the optical-ultraviolet spectra of AGNs. Most current models attribute the big blue bump to thermal emission from an optically thick accretion disk.

→ big; → blue; bump, → bump Cepheid.

The state of extremely high density and temperature into which a closed → Universe would → collapse in the distant future. If the Universe has a mass density exceeding the critical threshold, then gravity will eventually halt the expansion and cause the Big Crunch.

→ big; crunch "to crush, grind, or tread noisily; the act or sound of crunching," alteration of craunch, possibly of imitative origin.

Meh "large, big," → big; romb, → collapse, from rombidan "to collapse;" rombeš-e farjâmin "final collapase," from rombeš verbal noun of rombidan; farjâmin, → late.

A group of seven stars, an → asterism, lying inside the Northern constellation → Ursa Major. They are: → Dubhe, → Merak, → Phad, → Megrez, → Alioth, → Mizar, and → Alkaid. The group is also known as the Plough in Great Britain.

→ big; dipper a popular U.S. name for the asterism known in Britain as The Plough or Charles' Wain, from dip O.E. dyppan "immerse," from P.Gmc. *dupjanan.

Haft barâdarân "the seven brothers," from haft "seven" (Mid.Pers. haft, Av. hapta, cf. Skt. sapta, Gk. hepta, L. septem, P.Gmc. *sebun, Du. zeven, O.H.G. sibun, Ger. sieben, E. seven; PIE *septm) + barâdarân, plural of barâdar "brother" (Mid.Pers. brad, bardar, O.Pers./Av. brātar-, cf. Skt. bhrátar-, Gk. phrater, L. frater, P.Gmc. *brothar; PIE base *bhrater- "brother").
Haftowrang, Mid.Pers. haptôiring, from Av. haptôiringa- "with seven marks," from hapto- "seven,"as above, + iringa- "mark," cf. Skt. linga- "mark, token, sign."
Camcé "a spoon, ladle; a wooden bowl or cup;" bozorg "big, large."

A type of → interstellar dust grains with a size ranging from 150 to 1000 Å. Big grains consist of graphite and silicates. They are in → thermal equilibrium with the radiation field and their emission can be described by a modified → blackbody radiation following from → Kirchhoff's law.

→ big; → grain.

A cosmological hypothesis regarding the ultimate fate of the → Universe whereby in a far future galaxies and stellar systems would be torn apart due to the → accelerating expansion of the Universe depending on the kind of the → dark energy content of the Universe. According to this hypothesis, after the disruption of galaxies, stars, and planets even atoms might not be able to withstand the internal force of the expansion imposed by the dark energy.

→ big; M.E. rippen, origin obscure, cf. Frisian rippe "to tear, rip," M.Du. reppen, rippen "to pull, jerk," Swed. reppa, Dan. rippe "to tear, rip."

Meh "large, big," see under → big; gosast stem of gosastan "to tear, cut, break," from Mid.Pers. wisistan "to break, split," Av. saed-, sid- "to split, break," asista- "unsplit, unharmed," Skt. chid- "to split, break, cut off," PIE base *skei- "to cut, split," cf. Gk. skhizein "to split," L. scindere "to split," Goth. skaidan, O.E. sceadan "to divide, separate."

A young → A-type or → B-type star showing → emission lines in its spectrum. Herbig AeBe stars are → pre-main sequence stars of → intermediate mass (→ intermediate-mass star). They are often called the higher mass counterparts of → T Tauri stars.

Named after George H. Herbig (1920-2013), who first classified them (Herbig 1960, ApJS 4, 337); → A star; → B star; e indicating → emission.

A small patch of → nebulosity in a → star-forming region, created when fast-moving → jets of material (with speeds up to about 1000 km per sec) from a newborn star collide with the → interstellar medium.

→ Herbig AeBe star; Guillermo Haro (1913-1988), who first in 1940s studied these objects in detail and recognized that they were a by-product of the star formation process; → object.