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

A description of the interstellar medium justified by the presence of supersonic shock waves, massive star winds, turbulence, supernova explosions, etc.

→ violent; → interstellar; → environment.

A process in which a dynamical system made up of many objects (star cluster, galaxy cluster) rapidly relaxes from a chaotic initial state to a quasi-equilibrium.

→ violent; → relaxation.

The concept of star formation pertaining to a variety of systems (OB associations, giant H II regions, H II galaxies, massive star clusters, etc.) that are believed to have formed large numbers of stars in a very short time.

→ violent; → star formation.

In thermodynamics, a generalized → equation of state obtained when the → compression factor Z is expanded in terms of a power series, e.g.: Z = 1 + B(T) / V_m + C(T) / V_m² + ...

→ virial; → equation of state.

The process whereby a system of gravitationally interacting particles attains stability. The comparable mass components interact with each other, but the whole system does not expand or collapse. Virialization occurs when the → potential energy is twice the negative → kinetic energy: - W_vir = 2 K_vir (→ virial theorem). In the case of a → galaxy cluster, when the cluster is virialized the merging process and the collapse of matter have finished and the formation process of the galaxy cluster is considered to be done. A cluster has formed by → hierarchical clustering. Virialized clusters, in other words finished clusters, can be found by looking at their radius and density. A cluster is virialized when it satisfies the condition: R_vir ~ R_max/2, where R_vir is the radius when the cluster is virialized and R_max is the radius when the collapse starts. From this condition it follows that the object is 8 times denser at virialization than when the collapse started.

Verbal noun of → virialize.

A model for explaining several observational features of → circumstellar disks around → Be stars. According to this model, the central star provides → angular momentum to the disk at the innermost radius, and then it is redistributed over the whole disk via → viscosity. Thus, in isolated Be stars, the equatorial disk can spread out to a large distance as long as the star can give angular momentum to the disk. The VDD model, first introduced by Lee et al. (1991, MNRAS, 250, 432) and further developed by several other researchers, is now widely accepted as the best physical model for describing the circumstellar disks of Be stars. Among the growing evidence supporting the VDD model is the confirmation that the disks rotate in a Keplerian way (→ Keplerian orbit), allowing for the identification of viscosity as the mechanism that makes the disk grow (see, e.g., Klement et al., 2015, A&A 584, A85).

→ viscous; → decretion; → disk.

A degradation of → mechanical energy that is irreversibly converted to → thermal energy due to → viscous forces in the → fluid. Viscous dissipation occurs in → turbulent flows.

→ viscous; → dissipation.

The → Fourier transform of a source's → brightness distribution, weighted by the characteristics of the → interferometer's antennas.

→ visibility; → function.

That line where Earth and sky appear to meet, and the projection of this line upon the celestial sphere. Also known as the apparent horizon.

→ visible; → horizon.

The act or power of sensing with the eyes. → averted vision; → acuity of vision.

M.E., from O.Fr. vision, from L. visionem (nominative visio) "act of seeing, sight, thing seen," from p.p. stem of videre "to see," cognate with Pers. bin, present stem of didan "to see" (Mid.Pers. wyn-; O.Pers. vain- "to see;" Av. vaēn- "to see;" cf. Skt. veda "I know;" Gk. oida "I know," idein "to see;" PIE base *weid- "to know, to see").

Negâh, "look," from Mid.Pers. nikâh "look, glance, observation;" Proto-Iranian *ni-kas- "to look down," from ni- "down, below," → ni- (PIE), + *kas- "to look, appear;" cf. Av. nikā-, nikāta- (in the name of the 15-th nask) "that which is observed," ākas- "to look;" Mid.Pers. âkâh, Mod.Pers. âgâh "aware, knowing;" Skt. kāś- "to become visible, appear;" Ossetic kast/kaesyn "to look;" did, from didan "to see" (Mid.Pers. ditan "to see, regard, catch sight of, contemplate, experience;" O.Pers. dī- "to see;" Av. dā(y)- "to see," didāti "sees;" cf. Skt. dhī- "to perceive, think, ponder; thought, reflection, meditation," dādhye; Gk. dedorka "have seen").

The → extinction in the visual range of the electromagnetic radiation.

→ visual; → extinction

1) The act of visualizing (→ visualize).
2) The presentation of → information on a → screen.

Verbal noun of → visualize.

Cašm-did, Mid.Pers. cašm-did "visible," Mod.Pers. cašm-didâr by Tusi, in Pers. translation of Sufi's "Book of Fixed Stars," from cašm "eye" (Mid.Pers. cašm, Av. cašman- "eye," ākas- "to look," from prefix ā- + Proto-Iranian *kas- "to look, appear," cf. Skt. cáksus- "seeing") + did past stem of didan "to see" (Mid.Pers. ditan "to see, regard, catch sight of, contemplate, experience;" O.Pers. dī- "to see;" Av. dā(y)- "to see," didāti "sees;" cf. Skt. dhī- "to perceive, think, ponder; thought, reflection, meditation," dādhye; Gk. dedorka "have seen").

The explosive ejection of superheated matter from a → volcano.

→ volcanic; → eruption.

A → rotating star cannot simultaneously achieve → hydrostatic equilibrium and → rigid body rotation. The paradox can be solved if → baroclinic flows (essentially a → differential rotation and a → meridional circulation) are included. For a broader view of the subject see: M. Rieutord, 2006, in Stellar Fluid Dynamics and Numerical Simulations: From the Sun to Neutron Stars, ed. M. Rieutord & B. Dubrulle, EAS Publ., 21, 275, arXiv:astro-ph/0608431.

→ von Zeipel theorem; → paradox.

A theorem that establishes a relation between the → radiative flux at some → colatitude on the surface of a → rotating star and the local → effective gravity (which is a function of the → angular velocity and colatitude). For a rotating star in which → centrifugal forces are not negligible, the → equipotentials where gravity, centrifugal force, and pressure are balanced will no longer be spheres. The theorem states that the radiative flux is proportional to the local effective gravity at the considered colatitude, F(θ) ∝ g_eff (θ)^α, where α is the → gravity darkening coefficient. As a consequence, the stellar surface will not be uniformly bright, because there is a much larger flux and a higher → effective temperature at the pole than at the equator (T_eff (θ) ∝ g_eff (θ)^β, where β is the → gravity darkening exponent. In → massive stars this latitudinal dependence of the temperature leads to asymmetric → mass loss and also to enhanced average → mass loss rates. Also called → gravity darkening. See also → von Zeipel paradox; → meridional circulation; → baroclinic instability; → Eddington-Sweet time scale.

Named for Edvard Hugo von Zeipel, Swedish astronomer (1873-1959), who published his work in 1924 (MNRAS 84, 665); → theorem.

Same as the → von Zeipel theorem.

→ von Zeipel theorem; → law.

Same as → common fraction.

M.E., from L. vulgaris, from vulgus "the common people," + -aris, → -ar.

→ common; → fraction.

A → boson particle that, along with → Z boson, mediates the → weak force in particle interactions. Two kinds of W bosons exist, the W⁺ and its antiparticle W^-. With a mass of 80.4 GeV/c², the W boson is almost 100 times as massive as the → proton.

W for → weak; → boson.

The circumstance when the phase of the Moon is decreasing from → full moon to → new moon.

→ waning; → moon.

Meteo.: A leading edge that advances in a mass of air and replaces cooler air by warm air.

→ warm; → front.