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

1) The backward counting in fixed time units from the initiation of a project, as a rocket launching, with the moment of firing designated as zero.
2) The final preparations made during this period (Dictionary.com).

→ count; → down.

Toward or in a lower physical position.
See also: → download, → downgrade, → upload, → downsizing, → meltdown, → overload, → spin-down, → top-down structure formation.

M.E. doun, from O.E. dune "downward," short for adune, ofdune, from a-, of "off, from" + dune "hill."

Pâyin "bottom, below; at the foot of," from pâ(y) "foot; step;" Mid.Pers. pâd, pây; Av. pad- "foot;" cf. Skt. pat; Gk. pos, genitive podos; L. pes, genitive pedis; E. foot; Ger. Fuss; Fr. pied; PIE *pod-/*ped-.
Foru "down, downward; below, under, beneath; low," Mid.Pers. frôt "down, downward;" O.Pers. fravata "forward, downward;" Skt. pravát- "a sloping path, the slope of a mountain."

1) A downward slope, especially of a road.
2) To assign to a lower status; to minimize the importance of (Dictionary.com).

→ down; → grade.

1) To transfer data from any other computer to one's computer.
2) The act of downloading.

→ down; → load.

Bârgereftan, literally "to take load," from bâr, → load, + gereftan "to take," → receiver; bârgiri, verbal noun of bârgereftan.

A scenario of galaxy formation whereby massive galaxies formed earlier in the history of the → Universe (i.e. at high → redshifts) and completed their → star formation process more rapidly than low-mass galaxies. This scenario contrasts with what might be expected from simple → hierarchical structure formation scenarios, which predict that large galaxies formed in more recent times through the → merging of small galaxies.

Downsizing, first suggested by Cowie et al. (1996, AJ 112, 839), from downsize (v.), is a new sense for this term. Its current main meaning in non astrophysical contexts is "to make in a smaller size, or become smaller in size (in particular in economic vocabulary, by reductions in personnel)," from → down + → size.

Bozorg-bé-kucak, literally "large to small," from bozorg, → large, +bé "to" + kucak, → small.

1) With or in the direction of the current of a stream. → upstream.
2) Of or pertaining to the latter part of a process or system.

→ down; → stream.

Forud, → incidence; water, → water.

A severe accident in a nuclear reactor which is caused by a major failure in the reactor cooling circuit leading to the melting of the reactor core. Without coolant, the core would overheat so that the uranium fuel would melt. If the core continued to heat up, the steel walls of the core would also melt. If the molten core escaped from the containment housing of the reactor, large amounts of highly radioactive materials would be released into the atmosphere. The radioactive contamination of the air, water, and soil can have disastrous consequences for life.

→ melt; down, M.E. doun, from O.E. dune "downward," short for adune, ofdune, from a-, of "off, from" + dune "hill."

Forugodâxt, from foru- "down, downward; below; beneath," as in forurixtan, forunešastan, foruraftan (Mid.Pers. frôt "down, downward;" O.Pers. fravata "forward, downward;" cf. Skt. pravát- "a sloping path, the slope of a mountain") + godâxt past stem of godâxtan, godazidan → melt.

The last stage of → merger between two → black holes undergoing → inspiral. At the end of the evolution of a → binary black hole system, the black holes get close enough to → merge together into a single, larger black hole (→ black hole merger). The resulting black hole is at first distorted and asymmetric, but in the ringdown process the black hole's vibrations decay due to → gravitational radiation leaving finally a quiescent, spinning black hole.

M.E. ring, from O.E. hringan; akin to O.Norse hringja "to ring;" → down.

In computer science, to reduce the processing power of the same node/system by reducing its resources (CPU, RAM, etc.). This type of → vertical scaling is opposite to → scale up. See also → scale in, → scale out.

→ scale; → down.

A phenomenon in which the rotation period of a pulsar steadily decreases with the pulsar age. The cause of the spin-down is magnetic torque due to the strong fields threading out from the pulsar. The magnetic energy is being converted to high-energy particles and radiation from the nebula. Observed spin-down rates range from about 10^-5 seconds/year for the youngest pulsars to about 10^-12 seconds/year for recycled pulsars. The Crab pulsar is slowing down at a rate of about 10^-5 seconds/year. Knowing the rotation period and the lengthening rate of a pulsar leads to its age.

→ spin; down, M.E.; O.E. ofdune "downward," from dune "from the hill."

Kond-carxi, from kond "slow; dull" + carx→ rotate + -i noun suffix.

A cosmological model of → structure formation in which larger structures, such as galaxy → superclusters or perhaps even the vast → filaments and → voids, form earlier and then they fragment into smaller structures such as individual galaxies. Opposite of → bottom-up structure formation.

→ top; → down; → structure; → formation.