An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A star whose spectrum shows strong hydrogen → Balmer lines accompanied by many faint to moderately strong metallic lines. In contrast to B and O stars, the lines of He I and He II are absent. Their surface temperature ranges from 7,500 to 10,000 K. The main metallic lines seen in A-type stars are those of Fe I and Fe II, Cr I and II, Ti I and II, and account for about two-thirds of all lines. Some famous examples of A star are: → Sirius; → Deneb, → Altair, and → Vega. Also known as A-type star.

A, letter of alphabet used in the → Harvard classification; → type; → star.

Same as → A star.

A, letter of alphabet used in the → Harvard classification; → type; → star.

An apparent displacement in the observed position of a star. It is a result of the finite speed of light combined with the relative motion of the Earth through space. Suppose that you walk through a vertically falling rain with an umbrella over your head. The faster you walk, the further you must lower the umbrella in front of yourself to prevent the rain from striking your face. For starlight to enter a telescope, a similar phenomenon must occur, because the Earth is in motion. The telescope must be tilted in the direction of motion by an angle: tan θ =(v/c), where v the Earth velocity and c the speed of light. The aberration of starlight was discovered by the English astronomer James Bradley (1693-1762) in 1729 by observing → Gamma Draconis. The tilt angle is θ = 20''.50, from which the Earth's orbital speed, 29.80 km s^-1, can be deduced, using the above equation. See also → annual aberration; → diurnal aberration; → secular aberration. → Special relativity modifies the classical formula for aberration, predicting results which differ substantially from those of classical physics for objects moving at a substantial fraction of the speed of light; → relativistic aberration.

→ aberration; → star; → light.

A → neutron star in a → binary system that accretes matter from the → campion star, either from the → stellar wind or from an → accretion disk that forms if the companion overflows its → Roche lobe. The → gravitational energy from the infalling matter provides at least part of the energy for the observed radiation and the accretion torques dominate the spin evolution. Despite these common properties, accreting → neutron stars display a wide variety of behaviors, depending on the neutron star → magnetic field strength, mass of the companion and properties of → accretion (A. K. Harding, 2013, Front. Phys. 8, 679).

→ accreting; → neutron; → star.

The star which → accretes matter, particularly in its protostellar phase or in a close binary system.

→ accreting; → star.

A → binary system that has very short orbital period (less than one hour) and helium dominated spectrum. The prototype, AM Canum Venaticorum, with a period of 17 minutes, was discovered in 1967. AM CVn stars are → semidetached binary systems in which → accretion is going on. The → donor star is hydrogen deficient and the → accretor is usually a → white dwarf. To fit within their → Roche lobes, the donor stars must be dense, suggesting they may be → degenerate too. It is at present thought that AM CVn stars represent three possible evolutionary phases in 1) → double white dwarf systems, 2) white dwarf and → helium star binaries, and 3) → cataclysmic variables with evolved donors. For a review see G. Nelemans 2005, astro-ph/0409676.

AM, letters of alphabet used in variable star designations; CVn, abbreviation of → Canes Venatici; → star.

A chemically peculiar A- or early F-type star showing an overabundance of → heavy elements and an underabundance of calcium and scandium. An Am star cannot receive a unique spectral type, as different methods (using the metallic lines, the hydrogen Balmer lines, and the calcium Ca II K-lines) yield three different spectral types. Contrarily to Ap stars, Am stars do not have significant external magnetic fields. Their rotational velocities are about 100-120 km s^-1 smaller than those of → Ap stars.

A for the spectral type, m for → metal; → star.

Same as → Ap/Bp star.

→ Ap/Bp star.

A star of spectral type A in which lines of ionized metals and → rare-earth elements are abnormally enhanced. Such stars have unusually strong magnetic fields, thousands of times stronger than the Sun's typical surface field. Ap stars are generally slow rotators because of magnetic braking.

A for the spectral type, p for → peculiar; → star.

A class of → intermediate-mass stars which possess anomalously strong → magnetic fields (about 100-10000 G). Ap/Bp stars typically show → overabundances of → iron peak elements, → rare earths, and → silicon, ranging up to ~2 dex above solar. These magnetic → chemically peculiar stars make up about 5% of the → main sequence A and B population (→ A star, → B star). Ap/Bp stars have predominantly → dipolar magnetic fields. The presence of strong, ordered magnetic fields in some main sequence A and B stars has been known for nearly one-half of a century (Babcock 1947). However the cause of the magnetic field is still a matter of debate. There are two competing theories: the contemporaneous → dynamo effect, and the → fossil magnetic field theory. Contemporaneous dynamo effect suggests that there is a dynamo effect currently working in the → convective core of the star. The fossil field theory assumes that the magnetic field is a remnant, produced by a dynamo effect operating at an earlier evolutionary phase, or swept up from the → interstellar medium during → star formation (Power et al., 2006, astro-ph/0612557).

A and B represent spectral types and p stands for → peculiar.

Put in modern notation, if α and β are acute angles and if β <α, then sin α / sin β <α / β < tan α / tan β. Aristarchus probably used this inequality to show that the Sun is between 18 and 20 times as far from the Earth as the Moon is.

Aristarchus of Samos (c.310-c.230 BC); → inequality.

In → adaptive optics, a point source created on the sky by means of a laser beam in order to correct for the → atmospheric turbulence. A laser tuned to the wavelength of 589 nm will excite sodium atoms at an altitude of ~ 100 km in the Earth's atmosphere, producing an artificial "star."

→ artificial; → star.

A star of → spectral type B, whose spectrum is marked by absorption lines of hydrogen; also known as B-type star. B-type optical spectra are characterized by the presence of neutral He lines (mainly He I 4471 Å) at about type B9. He I strengthens up to about B2, then decreases. Ionized helium (mainly He II 4541 Å) first appears at about B0. Most metallic lines are absent or weak, except some absorption lines for the higher ionization states of → silicon, → oxygen, → carbon, and → magnesium. These are hot stars with → effective temperatures ranging from about 10,000 K at B9 to nearly 30,000 K at B0. They are between 3 and 20 → solar masses. Some famous examples include: → Rigel, → Achernar, → Hadar.

→ star.

Same as → B star.

B, letter of alphabet used in the → Harvard classification; → type; → star.

A type of star, usually G or K → giants, whose spectra show unusually strong absorption lines of → barium, → strontium, and other → s-process elements.

→ barium; → star.

A → red dwarf in the constellation → Ophiuchus discovered in 1916 by E.E. Barnard, that until 1968 had the largest → proper motion of any star. It moves on the sky 10.3 arcseconds per year, which means that it travels the equivalent of a lunar diameter every 180 years. It is the second nearest star system to the Sun.

In honor of → Barnard; → star.

A hot star of → spectral type B showing → Balmer lines in emission. Be stars are fast rotators (spinning at about 200 km/sec) and have strong → stellar winds with important → mass loss.

B, referring to the spectral type; e for emission lines; → star.

Same as → 61 Cygni, the first star whose distance was measured, by Friedrich Bessel in 1838.

→ Bessel; → star.

Any of the eight quantities denoted by a, b, c, d (for → right ascension) and a', b', c', d' (for → declination) used in conjunction with → Besselian day numbers for the reduction of star's → mean catalog place.

→ Besselian; → star; → constant.

Same as → blue horizontal branch star.

→ blue; → horizontal; → branch; → star.