An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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1) General: The process or fact of absorbing.
2) Physics: The action of energy or matter penetrating or being assimilated into a body of matter with no reflection or emission. → adsorption, → desorption, → sorption.
See also: → absorption band, → absorption coefficient, → absorption curve, → absorption feature, → absorption line, → absorption nebula, → absorption spectrum, → atmospheric absorption, → discrete absorption component, → foreground absorption, → intergalactic absorption, → internal absorption, → interstellar absorption, → mass absorption coefficient, → photoabsorption, → selective absorption, → self-absorption.

Verbal noun of → absorb; → -tion, from L. absorptionem.

1) A series of very closely spaced absorption lines in stellar spectra resulting from the absorption of light by molecules. Bands caused by titanium oxide (→ TiO bands) and carbon compounds occur in the spectra of low temperature M and C stars.
2) A range of wavelengths, usually in electromagnetic radiation, that are absorbed by a given substance. Absorption bands are characteristic of molecules and correspond to changes of electron orbits in the molecules. See also → anomalous dispersion.

→ absorption; → band.

The fraction of normally incident light that is absorbed per unit path length or by a unit mass of absorbing medium.

→ absorption; → coefficient.

A graphic representation of the amount of radiant energy absorbed by a material as a function of the wavelength.

→ absorption; → curve.

A dip in a spectrum indicating that light has been absorbed on the path from the emitting source to the observer. It may be a line, corresponding to a well-defined atomic or molecular transition, or a more complex feature whose physical origin is not necessarily understood.

→ absorption; → feature.

A dark line in the spectrum of a source produced by a lower temperature gas cloud lying between the source and the observer.

→ absorption; → line.

A dark cloud of dust and gas that absorbs light from and impedes the view of background stars; dark nebula.

→ absorption; → nebula.

A spectrum of absorption lines or bands, produced when light from a hot source, itself producing a continuous spectrum, passes through a cooler gas.

→ absorption; → spectrum.

A process in which a layer of atoms or molecules of one substance forms on the surface of a solid or liquid. → absorption, → desorption, → sorption.

Adsorption from ad- "to" + sorption, from L. sorbere "to suck," → absorption.

Baršam, from bar- "on, upon" + šam "to drink, sip," → absorption.

The absorption of → electromagnetic radiation in the → atmosphere mainly by → water vapor, → carbon dioxide, and oxygen. The atmosphere introduces two more limiting factors in → remote sensing: → atmospheric scattering and → atmospheric turbulence.

→ atmospheric; → absorption.

Same as → chemisorption.

→ chemical; → adsorption.

A kind of → adsorption in which the forces involved are → valence forces of the same kind as those operating in the formation of → chemical compounds. Same as → chemical adsorption. See also → physisorption.

Chemi-, from → chemical; → sorption.

A physical or chemical process by which a substance that has been sorbed (adsorbed or absorbed) by a liquid or solid material is removed from the material. Reverse of → sorption. → absorption; → adsorption.

Verbal noun of → desorb.

The rapid, systematic changes in the absorption parts of the → P Cygni profiles of the ultraviolet → resonance lines (Si IV, C IV, and N V) observed in a majority of massive → hot stars. DACs are typically seen to accelerate to the → blue wing of the profile over a few days, becoming narrower as they approach the → terminal velocity.

→ discrete; → absorption; → component.

Loss of radiant energy received from an astronomical object due to the presence of absorbing matter situated between the object and observer.

→ foreground; → absorption.

→ Absorption features in the spectra of bright sources like → quasars attributed to a tenuous matter filling the medium between galaxies.

→ intergalactic; → absorption.

Of an → H II region, the absorption of photons by the dust which is mixed with ionized gas, in contrast to the absorption by the → interstellar dust on the line of sight.

→ internal; → absorption.

The absorption of light from stars and other objects by intervening gas and dust in interstellar space.

→ interstellar; → absorption.

A measure of the rate of absorption of radiation, expressed as the linear absorption coefficient divided by the density of the medium through which radiation is passing.

→ mass; → absorption; → coefficient.

A situation in which all of the energy of a photon is transferred to an atom, molecule, or nucleus.

→ photo- + → absorption.