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

An act or instance of isolating; the state of being isolated.

Verbal noun of → isolate.

Physics: Any of two or more nuclei having the same atomic number A and mass number Z but different half-lives.
Chemistry: One of two or more substances that have the same chemical composition but differ in structural form.

Back formation from isomeric, from → iso- + mer a combining form meaning "part," from Gk. meros "part, portion, share."

Izomer, loan from Fr. isomère.

A one-to-one → mapping between two → sets, which preserves the relations existing between elements in its → domain. An isomorphism is a → bijective morphism.

→ iso-; → morphism.

A line drawn through all points on a weather map having the same amount of → cloud cover.

From Gk. → iso- + nephos "cloud," cognate with Pers. nam "humidity, moisture;" Av. napta- "moist," nabās-câ- "cloud," nabah- "sky;" Skt. nábhas- "moisture, cloud, mist;" L. nebula "mist," nimbus "rainstorm, rain cloud;" O.H.G. nebul; Ger. Nebel "fog;" O.E. nifol "dark;" from PIE *nebh- "cloud, vapor, fog, moist, sky."

Izoabr, from izo-, → iso-, + abr → cloud.

Of or relating to → isophotes.

→ isophote; → -al.

The size attributed to a galaxy corresponding to a particular level of → surface brightness. The reason is that galaxies do not have sharp edges.

→ isophotal; → radius.

A line joining points with the same surface brightness on a plot or in image of a celestial object such as a nebula or galaxy.

Isophote, from → iso- + a combining form of Gk. phos (gen. photos) "light."

Izošid, from izo-, → iso-, + šid "light, sunlight," from Mid.Pers. šêt "shining, radiant, bright;" Av. xšaēta- "shining, brilliant, splendid, excellent."

The quality of an imaging system which is characterized by → isoplanatism.

From → iso- "equal, uniform" + Gk. plane "wandering," from planasthai "to wander" + -tic adjective-forming suffix, → -ic.

Izobirâh, from izo-, → iso-, + birâh "a devious path; a wanderer, who deviates, errs."

The angle in which the → point spread function of the atmosphere/telescope system is space invariant. Because of the presence of → turbulence in high layers of the atmosphere, this angle is extremely small, often only a few seconds of arc at visible wavelengths. See also → aplanatism.

→ isoplanatic; → angle.

The spatial region where the variation of the → point spread function of an imaging system is considered negligible.

→ isoplanatic; → patch.

In an imaging system, the unvarying of the → point spread function over an extended field of view.

From isoplanat(ic), → isoplanatic, + → -ism.

The condition in which the wavefronts arriving from different parts of a region of sky undergo almost identical phase perturbations. See also → isoplanatic patch.

→ isoplanatic; → patch.

A line on a map connecting points of equal value. For example the contour lines joining points of equal altitude on a topographic map. Some other examples of isopleths are: → isobar, → isoneph, and → isohel.

From Gk. isoplethes, from → iso- + pleth(os) "great number, multitude;" cognate with Pers. por, → full, + -es adj. suffix.

Izocand, from izo-, → iso-, + cand replacing candi (after prefix) "quantity," from Mid.Pers. candih "amount, quantity," from cand "how many, how much; so many, much;" O.Pers. yāvā "as long as;" Av. yauuant- [adj.] "how great?, how much?, how many?," yauuat [adv.] "as much as, as far as;" cf. Skt. yāvant- "how big, how much;" Gk. heos "as long as, until."

A triangle having two sides equal.

From L.L. isosceles, from Gk. isoskeles "with equal legs; that can be divided into two equal parts," from isos "equal, identical," → iso-, + skelos "leg."

Sebar, → triangle, do-pahlu-baraabar, from do, → two, pahlu, → side, barâbar, → equal.

A quantum number based on the assumption that the nucleon (proton and neutron) is a single entity having two states, like → spin. It is conserved by the strong interaction. Same as isotopic spin, isobaric spin.

From → iso- + → spin

Meteo.: A line on a map or graph joining points of equal temperature.

Isotherm, back formation from → isothermal.

Izodamâ, from → iso- + damâ, → temperature.

1) Relating to or having a constant temperature.
2) Pertaining to an → isotherm.

Isothermal, from → iso- + therm, from Gk. therme "heat" thermos "warm;" cognate with Pers. garm "warm" (garmâ "heat, warmth," from Mid.Pers. garmâg; O.Pers./Av. garəma- "hot, warm;" cf. Skt. gharmah "heat;" L. formus "warm," fornax "oven;" P.Gmc. *warmaz; O.E. wearm; E. warm; O.H.G., Ger. warm; PIE *ghworm-/*ghwerm- "warm") + → -al; → process.

Izodamâ, from → iso- + damâ, → temperature.

A → thermodynamic process that takes place at → constant  → temperature. For the temperature of a system to remain strictly constant, the changes in other coordinates (pressure and volume) must be carried out slowly, and → heat must enter or leave the system to maintain a constant temperature. → polytropic process. Astrophysical examples include the → collapse of a → protostar down the → Hayashi track, and the collapse of a star at the end of its life to become a → white dwarf.

→ isothermal; → process.

A → stellar wind in which the gas is subject to only two forces: the inward directed gravity and the outward directed gradient of the gas pressure.

→ isothermal; → wind.

One of several nuclides having the same number of neutrons in their nuclei but differing in the number of protons.

Isotone, from → iso- + tone, from Gk tonos "strain, tone, mode," literally, "a stretching," akin to teinein "to stretch," cognate with Pers. tanidan "to spin, twist, weave" (Mid.Pers. tanitan; Av. tan- "to stretch, extend;" cf. Skt. tan- to spin, stretch;" tanoti "stretches," tantram "loom;" Gk. teinein "to stretch, pull tight;" L. tendere "to stretch; PIE base *ten- "to stretch;" Pers. târ "string," tân "thread," tur "fishing net, net, snare," and tâl "thread" (Borujerdi dialect) belong to this family; variants tanta "cobweb," tanadu, tafen, kartané, kârtané, kâtené, Pashtu tanistah "cobweb;" cf. Skt. tantu- "cobweb, thread, string").