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

A system that assigns a → spectral type to a star according to characteristics of its spectrum. The earliest attempt to divide stars on the basis of their spectra was the → Secchi classification in the 1860s. This scheme paved the way for the → Harvard classification that led to the current → Morgan-Keenan classification of spectral types. In the Harvard system stars were originally thought to follow an evolutionary sequence from the "early" O and B types to the "late" K and M types. Although this is now known to be wrong, the terms → early-type star and → late-type star are still in use. In the Morgan-Keenan system stars are classified as type O, B, A, F, G, K, or M in order of decreasing → effective temperature, and each type further subdivided into subclasses from 0 (hottest, except for → O-type stars) to 9 (coolest). They are also accompanied by a → luminosity class. In the late 1990s, spectral types L and T were added to the sequence to accommodate the coolest stars and → brown dwarfs (with class Y reserved for the coolest brown dwarfs of all, as yet unobserved).

→ spectral; → classification.

→ dispersion.

→ spectral; → dispersion.

A plot showing the energy emitted by a source as a function of the radiation wavelength or frequency. It is used in many branches of astronomy to characterize astronomical sources, in particular mainly in → near infrared and → middle infrared to study → protostars or → young stellar objects. The SED of these objects is divided in four classes.
Class 0 in which the SED represents a very embedded protostar, where the mass of the central core is small in comparison to the mass of the → accreting envelope. The SED is characterized by the → blackbody radiation of the envelope and peaks at → submillimeter wavelengths.
Class I objects possess a SED that peaks in the → far infrared and is characterized by a weak contribution of the blackbody of the central protostar (detected in near infrared) and the emission of a thick disk and dense envelope. These objects have less mass in the envelope and more massive central cores with respect to Class 0.
Class II objects are the → classical T Tauri stars with a SED due to the emission of a thin disk and the central star. They have accumulated most of their final mass and have dispersed almost completely their circumstellar envelope.
Finally, Class III objects have pure photospheric spectra. Their SED is peaked in the optical and is well approximated by a blackbody emission with a faint → infrared excess due to the presence of a residual optically thin disk that may be the origin of → planetesimals.
This classification scheme can be made more quantitative by defining a → spectral index.

→ spectral; → energy; → distribution.

An extent of wavelengths into which the electromagnetic spectrum is divided; e.g. infrared or ultraviolet region.

→ spectral; → region.

The capacity of a spectrograph to separate two adjacent spectral lines. The theoretical spectral resolution depends on the grating dispersion, grating position, pixel size, collimator and camera focal length, and the entrance slit-width.

→ spectral; → resolution.

The reflection of light waves in which the reflected waves travel in a definite direction, and the directions of the incident and reflected waves make equal angles with a line perpendicular to the reflecting surface. Same as → regular reflection; opposite of → diffuse reflection.

From L. specularis, from speculum "mirror;" → reflection.

Bâztâb, → reflection; âyenevâr "mirror-like," from âyené, → mirror + -vâr similarity suffix.

The act or an instance of speculating.

Verbal noun of → speculate.

An aberration of a spherical lens or spherical mirror in which light rays converge not to a single point but to a series of points with different distances from the lens or mirror. Spherical aberration is corrected by using parabolic reflecting and refracting surface.

→ spherical; → aberration.

A function consisting of several segments, usually → polynomials, joined smoothly together at specific points with an explicitly stated degree of accuracy. Spline functions are used to approximate a given function on an interval.

From East Anglian dialect, maybe related to O.E. splin and to modern splint. A spline was originally a slat or a thin strip of wood. A later meaning was "a long, thin, flexible strip used as a guide for drawing arcs of curves;" → function.

The self-ignition of a substance that produces sufficient heat within itself, by a slow oxidation process, for ignition to take place without the need for an external high-temperature source. The produced heat energy is absorbed by the substance raising its temperature slowly until the → ignition temperature is reached. Same as spontaneous ignition.

→ spontaneous; → combustion.

The emission of electromagnetic radiation from an atom or molecule that does not depend on the presence of external fields.

→ spontaneous; → emission.

An → atomic transition that gives rise to a → spontaneous emission.

→ spontaneous; → transition.

The state or condition of not flowing or running. → stagnation point, → stagnation pressure.

L. stagnatum, stagnatus, p.p. of stagnare "to stagnate," from stagnatum "standing water," from PIE root *stag- "to seep drip."

Nâravâni, literally "not flowing," from nâ- negation prefix, → un-, + ravân "flowing, running," pr.p. of raftan "to go, walk; to flow;" (Mid.Pers. raftan, raw-, Proto-Iranian *rab/f- "to go; to attack").

A point where the → flow  → velocity is → zero. For example a point around an obstacle where a → flow tube splits into two portions.

→ stagnation; → point.

The sum of → static pressure and → dynamic pressure in the → Bernoulli equation.

→ stagnation; → pressure.

An uncastrated adult male horse, especially one used for breeding.

M.E. stalon, from O.Fr. estalon, "uncastrated male horse," cognate with O.H.G. stal "stable," cf. O.H.G. stall "stand, place, stable, stall," Ger. Stall "stable," Stelle "place"), from PIE root *stel- "to put, stand," with derivatives referring to a standing object or place; akin to Pers. istâdan "to stand," → station.

Nariyân, from nar "male," → masculine.

The most widely used measure of dispersion of a frequency distribution. It is equal to the positive square root of the → variance. Same as → standard error. Not to be confused with the → root mean square error.

→ standard; → deviation.

The process by which dense parts of molecular clouds collapse into a ball of plasma to form a star. As a branch of astronomy, star formation includes the study of the interstellar medium and molecular clouds as precursors to the star formation process as well as the study of young stellar objects.

→ star; → formation.

The degree to which stars form in a system, such as a → molecular cloud or a → galaxy. It is given by the ratio of the total mass of stars to the initial gas mass: ε_SFE = M_stars / (M_stars + M_gas).

→ star formation; → efficiency.

The → star formation rate as a function of time.

→ star; → formation; → history.