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

1a) The circular diaphragm forming the colored portion of the eye and perforated by the pupil in its center. → pupil.
1b) A diaphragm forming an adjustable opening over a lens in an optical instrument.
2) Asteroid 7, discovered in 1847 by E. astronomer John Russell Hind (1823-1895).
3) Botany: A plant having showy flowers, typically of purple, yellow, or white, and long thin leaves.

Iris, M.E., from L. irid-, iris "colored part of the eye, rainbow, iris plant, a precious stone," from Gk. iris, iridos "rainbow, iris plant, iris of the eye," initially "a messenger of the gods, regarded as the goddess of the rainbow." The eye portion was so called for being the colored part.

Titak, from Kermâni, Tâleši, variants Lori tiya, Dehxodâ dictionary tuk, probably 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."
Zanbaq, from Pers. zanba "white rose."

A mechanical device, consisting of thin overlapping plates, designed to smoothly vary the effective diameter of a lens, thereby controlling the amount of light allowed through.

→ iris; → diaphragm.

Same as → NGC 7023.

→ iris; → nebula.

A → spacecraft whose goal is to collect a sample from the asteroid → 101955 Bennu and bring it back to Earth. It was launched by → NASA on September 8, 2016. OSIRIS-REx will spend two years chasing Bennu down, finally rendezvousing with the → near-Earth asteroid in August 2018. The spacecraft will then study the → asteroid Bennu from orbit for another two years before grabbing at least 60 grams of surface material in July 2020. The sample should reach Earth in 2023. The analysis of the sample would allow to study the role that → B-type asteroids like Bennu, which are primitive and apparently carbon-rich, may have played in helping life appear on Earth.

The name is short for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer .