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

Capable of adapting or of being adapted.

→ adapt + → -able.

A set of tables created in Toledo, under Alfonso X, el sabio, king of Castile and Léon (1252 to 1284) to correct the anomalies in the → Toledan Tables. The starting point of the Alfonsine Tables is January 1, 1252, the year of king's coronation (1 June). The original Spanish version of the tables is lost, but a set of canons (introductory instructions) for planetary tables are extant. They are written by Isaac ben Sid and Judah ben Moses ha-Cohen, two of the most active collaborators of Alfonso X. The Alfonsine Tables were the most widely used astronomical tables in the Middle Ages and had an enormous impact on the development of European astronomy from the 13th to 16th century. They were replaced by Erasmus Reinhold's → Prutenic Tables, based on Copernican models, that were first published in 1551.The Latin version of the Alfonsine Tables first appeared in Paris around 1320, where a revision was undertaken by John of Lignères and John of Murs, accompanied by a number of canons for their use written by John of Saxony. There is a controversy as to the exact relationship of these tables with the work commissioned by the Spanish king.

After the Spanish monarch Alfonso X (1221-1284); → table.

One of a set of tables giving parameters used for calculations of positions of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets in particular in pre-telescopic astronomy. The oldest known astronomical tables are those of Ptolemy. In Modern astronomy it is usually replaced by the term → ephemeris. Same as → zij. See also → Toledan Tables, → Alfonsine Tables.

→ astronomical; → table.

A zone around a star within which a planet can have temperatures that permit liquid water, depending on the luminosity of the star and the distance of the planet from it.

→ circumstellar; → habitable zone.

1) Computers: Describing a computer program that is able to be run. → executable program.
2) Computer: A file containing a program that will run when it is opened. → executable file.

→ execute; → -able.

A type of binary file designed to be directly executed by a computer system. → executable program.

→ executable; → file.

A program that can run on a → computer. It uses an → executable file.

→ executable; → program.

A region of the Galaxy whose boundaries are set by its calm and safe environment and access to the chemical materials necessary for building terrestrial planets similar to the Earth. → circumstellar habitable zone; → habitable zone.

→ galactic, → habitable; → zone.

In → exobiology, having a → temperature range within which → liquid water can exist on the surface of a → planet.

M.E., from O.Fr. habitation, from L. habitare "to live, dwell," frequentative of habere "to have, to hold, possess," from PIE base *ghrebh- "to seize, take, hold, have, give, receive" (cf. Mod.Pers. gereftan "to take, seize;" Mid.Pers. griftan; O.Pers./Av. grab- "to take, seize;" Skt. grah-, grabh- "to seize, take," graha "seizing, holding, perceiving;" M.L.G. grabben "to grab," from P.Gmc. *grab, E. grab "to take or grasp suddenly"); → zone.

Zistpazir, from zist, → life, + pazir "admitting, accepting, having," → -able.

A zone around a → star where the → temperature would be in the range 0-100 °C to sustain → liquid water on the surface of rocky planets (or sufficiently large moons). Water is thought to be a necessary component to the → formation and evolution of Earth-type life. This zone depends on the parent star's luminosity and distance; it will be farther from hotter stars. A more accurate definition of HZ needs to include other factors, such as orbital → eccentricity, heat sources other than stellar irradiation, and atmospheric properties. Same as → circumstellar habitable zone; → ecosphere.

→ habitable; → zone.

→ inheritable.

→ inherit; → -able.

→ inheritable.

→ inherit; → -able.

1) Capable of being inherited.
2) Capable of inheriting; qualified to inherit (Dictionary.com).

→ inherit; → -able.

The smallest → circular orbit in which a particle can stably orbit a → black hole according to → general relativity without the risk of falling past the → event horizon. In other words, the ISCO is the inner edge of the → accretion disk around a black hole. Therefore, characteristics of accretion disks depend on ISCO. The radius of ISCO is calculated to be three times the → Schwarzschild radius (3 R_Sch). ISCO is closer to event horizon for rotating black hole.

→ inner; → stable; → circular; → orbit.

See → periodic table.

→ periodic table.

An excited state in an atom, which is at the origin of the spectral lines called → forbidden lines. The time duration of the excited state being relatively long, under laboratory conditions the atom cannot pass directly to the ground state by emitting radiation. In the extremely rarefied interstellar medium, however, such highly improbable transitions do occur.

→ meta-; → stable; → state.

An arrangement of the → chemical elements in order of their → atomic numbers in such a way as to demonstrate periodic similarities and trends in physical and chemical properties. Elements with similar properties are arranged in the same column (called a group), and elements with the same number of → valence electrons, or number of electrons in the outer shell, are arranged in the same row (called a period). Under the latest recommendations from IUPAC (the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry), the groups are labelled 1 to 18 from left to right (1988, Pure and Applied Chemistry 60, 431). Also called Mendeleev's table.
The periodic table was introduced by Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907) in 1869, who originally arranged them in order of their → atomic weights. Using the table, it was possible for Mendeleev to correct some of the atomic weights (e.g. that of beryllium) and to predict the properties of a number of elements yet to be discovered (e.g. gallium, scandium, and germanium). The British physicist Frederick Soddy (1877-1956) showed that the loss of an → alpha particle reduces the nuclear charge by two and hence lowers the atomic number by two and the position of the element in the periodic table by two groups.

→ periodic; → table.

A set of astronomical tables (→ ephemeris) created in 1551 by Erasmus Reinhold (1511-1553), professor of astronomy at Wittenberg, indicating the positions of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets on the basis of the → Copernican model of heliocentric solar system. They superseded the → Alfonsine Tables, but since circular orbits were used, they were no more accurate than those tables. They were themselves replaced by the → Rudolphine Tables.

From original L. title Tabulae prutenicae "Prussian Tables," such named because Albert I, Duke of Prussia, supported Reinhold and financed the printing; → table; → zij.

Capable or being refuted.

→ refute; → -able.

Worthy of respect or esteem.

→ respect; → -able.