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

1) The act of allying or state of being allied; the result of this action.
2) A union to advance the common interests of the members.

M.E., from O.Fr. aliance, from al(ier) "to ally," → alloy, + → -ance.

Hamdasti, literally "joining hand," from ham-, → com-, + dast, → hand, + -i noun suffix.

An international cooperation whose objective is to facilitate the international coordination and collaboration necessary for the development and deployment of the tools, systems and organizational structures necessary to enable the international utilization of astronomical archives as an integrated and interoperating → Virtual Observatory. The IVOA, created in 2002, now comprises 20 Virtual Observatory programs from various countries and international organizations.

→ international; → virtual; → observatory; → alliance.