An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), a German mathematician and astronomer and a key figure in the 17th century astronomical revolution. He discovered that the Earth and planets travel about the Sun in elliptical orbits; gave three fundamental laws of planetary motion, and also did important work in optics and geometry.

1) Given the trajectory of a particle moving in a → central force field, determine the law governing the central force.
2) Inversely, considering a central force -k/r², determine the trajectory a particle moving in the field will take.

→ Kepler; → problem.

A → NASA space telescope launched in March 2009 to discover Earth-size planets using the → transit method. The telescope has a diameter of 0.95 m and its only instrument is a → photometer that continuously monitors the brightness of over 145,000 → main sequence stars in a fixed field of view of 115 deg² (about 12° diameter). The expected mission lifetime is 3.5 years extendible to at least 6 years.

In honor of Johannes → Kepler; → spacecraft.

An equation that enables the position of a body in an elliptical orbit to be calculated at any given time from its orbital elements. It relates the → mean anomaly of the body to its → eccentric anomaly.

Keplerian, adj. of → Kepler; → equation.

Planets move in elliptical paths, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse (year 1609).

→ Kepler; → first; → law.

1) The planets move about the Sun in ellipses, at one focus of which the Sun is situated.
2) The → radius vector joining each planet with the Sun describes equal areas in equal times.
3) The ratio of the square of the planet's period of revolution to the cube of the planet's mean distance from the Sun is the same for all planets.

→ Kepler; → law.

A line joining a planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time (year 1609).

→ Kepler; → second; → law.

A → supernova in → Ophiuchus, first observed on 1604 October 9, and described by Johannes Kepler in his book De stella nova (1606). It reached a maximum → apparent magnitude of -3 in late October. The star remained visible for almost a year. The → light curve is that of a → Type Ia supernova. The → supernova remnant consists of a few filaments and brighter knots at a distance of about 30,000 → light-years. It is the radio source 3C 358. Also known as SN 1604 and Kepler's supernova.

→ Kepler; → star.

The ratio between the square of a planet's → orbital period (P) to the cube of the mean distance from the Sun (a) is the same for all planets: P²∝ a³ (year 1618). More accurately, P² = (4π²a³) / [G(M₁ + M₂)], where M₁ and M₂ are the masses of the two orbiting objects in → solar masses and G is the → gravitational constant. In our solar system M₁ = 1. The → semi-major axis size (a is expressed in → astronomical units and the period (P) is measured in years.

→ Kepler; → third; → law.

Of or pertaining to Johannes Kepler or to his works or discoveries.

From → Kepler + -ian a suffix forming adjectives.

The angular velocity of a point in a circular orbit around a central mass. It is given by: Ω_K = (GM/r³)^1/2, where G is the → gravitational constant, M is the mass of the gravitating object, and r is the radius of the orbit of the point around the object.

→ Keplerian; → angular; → velocity.

A circumstellar disk (such as an → accretion disk or a → protoplanetary disk) in which the → angular velocity at each radius is equal to the angular velocity of a circular → Keplerian orbit at the same radius. The main characteristic of the Keplerian disk is that → orbital velocity varies as r^-1/2. This means that an object on an orbit closer to the central mass turns more rapidly than that on a farther orbit. This velocity difference is at the origin of internal friction or kinematic viscous forces between disk particles, which heats up the material.

→ Keplerian; → disk.

The orbit of a spherical object of a finite mass around another spherical object, also of finite mass, governed by their mutual → gravitational forces only.

→ Keplerian; → orbit.

The velocity of an object orbiting another object according to → Kepler's laws.

→ Keplerian; → orbital; → velocity.

A → rotation curve in which the speed of the orbiting body is inversely proportional to the → square root of its distance from the mass concentrated at the center of the system.

→ Keplerian; → rotation; → curve.

Shearing motion of an ensemble of particles, each on a nearly circular, → Keplerian orbit. → Orbital velocity decreases as orbital radius increases, yielding shear. Viscous drag on such shear, due to ring-particle collisions, plays a key role in ring processes (Ellis et al., 2007, Planetary Ring Systems, Springer).

→ Keplerian; → shear.

A → refracting telescope which has simple → convex lenses for both → objective and → eyepiece. It suffers from → chromatic aberration, which can be reduced by increasing the → focal ratio. It was first devised by Kepler in 1615.

→ Keplerian; → telescope.