An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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The circle determined by the intersection of the heavens with a → cone whose → vertex is the → eye, and whose elements are tangent to lines of the Earth's surface. Same as → visible horizon. Assuming that there is no → atmospheric refraction, apparent horizon coincides with → geometric horizon. See also → sea horizon.

→ apparent; → horizon.

A shallow flat vessel filled with → mercury or some other viscous → liquid used in special → sextant for measuring altitudes of celestial bodies at sea in the absence of a → visible horizon.

→ artificial; → horizon.

The intersection of a plane perpendicular to the radius of the Earth through the observer's eye with the celestial sphere. Same as → true horizon. Because the → celestial sphere has an infinite radius, two observers at different heights above sea level, but placed on the same vertical line, have the same astronomical horizon. Because of → dip of the horizon, the astronomical horizon always lies above the → sea horizon. But on land it is usually hidden by trees, hills, and buildings which determine the observer's → apparent horizon.

→ astronomical; → horizon.

A member of a population of blue stars appearing on the → horizontal branch in the → Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of the Galactic → halo populations and → globular clusters. Belonging to → spectral types B3 to A0, they have evolved past the → red giant stage and are burning helium in their core.

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

A great circle on the → celestial sphere having a plane that passes through the center of the Earth at a right angle to the line formed by an observer's → zenith and → nadir.

→ celestial; → horizon.

The → observable region of the → Universe, limited in extent by the distance → light has traveled during the time elapsed since the beginning of the Universe (→ Big Bang). No signal from the objects lying beyond the cosmic horizon can be received because light has not yet had enough time to travel the distance. The cosmic horizon can be defined in two ways:
1) The size of the → observable Universe as derived from ct, where c is the → speed of light and t is the → age of the Universe, 13.8 billion years, hence 13.8 billion → light-years.
2) The → comoving distance. The distance given above corresponds to the size Universe had 13.8 billion years ago. Since then the Universe has been growing at a rate of 3.52c. Therefore, the current radius of the observable Universe is about 48 × 10⁹ light-years. Same as → particle horizon, → Hubble distance, → Hubble radius, and → Hubble length. See also → sound horizon.

→ cosmic; → horizon.

The angle created by the observer's line of sight to the → apparent horizon and t he → true horizon. Neglecting the → atmospheric refraction, dip of the horizon can be expressed by θ (radians) = (2h/R)^1/2, where h is the observer's height and R the Earth's radius. An an example, for a height of 1.5m above the sea, and R = 6.4 x 10⁶ m, the dip angle is about 0.00068 radians, or 0.039 degrees, about 2.3 minutes of arc, quite appreciable by the eye. See also → distance to the horizon. Same as → dip angle.

→ dip; → horizon.

The distance separating an observer and the → apparent horizon of the place. Neglecting the → atmospheric refraction, it is given by: d = (2Rh)^1/2, where R is the radius of the Earth and h is the observer's height. This can be approximated to: d (km) = 3.57(h)^1/2 for a typical value of R = 6378 km. The atmospheric refraction, however, makes the thing more complex, depending on the temperature and density variations along the line of sight. Generally, refraction pushes the apparent horizon about 10% farther.

→ distance; → horizon.

1) The surface surrounding a → black hole with the property that any light ray emitted inside it cannot escape to the outer space because of the strength of the → gravitational field. The radius of the event horizon is called the → Schwarzschild radius. See also → photon sphere.
2) For an observer A at the instant t₀, the surface in the → space-time that divides the collection of all events into two non-empty classes: those events that have been, are being, or will be observed by A, and those that A has never observed and will never be able to observe (J. Plebanski, A. Krasinski, 2006, An Introduction to General Relativity and Cosmology, Cambridge Univ. Press).

→ event; → horizon.

An international collaboration using a → very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) array comprising millimeter- and → submillimeter- wavelength telescopes separated by distances comparable to the diameter of the Earth. At a nominal operating wavelength of ~1.3 mm, the EHT → angular resolution (λ/D) is ~25 μas (→ micro- → arcseconds), which is sufficient to resolve nearby → supermassive black hole candidates on spatial and temporal scales that correspond to their → event horizons. EHT observations toward the elliptical → galaxy M87 succeeded in obtaining the first ever image of its supermassive black hole (EHT Collaboration, 2019, ApJL 875, L1-L6). The telescopes contributing to this result were ALMA, APEX, the IRAM 30-m telescope, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, the Large Millimeter Telescope Alfonso Serrano, the Submillimeter Array, the Submillimeter Telescope, and the South Pole Telescope. Petabytes of raw data from the telescopes were combined by highly specialized supercomputers hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and MIT Haystack Observatory. The construction of the EHT and the M87 black hole observation result from decades of observational, technical, and theoretical work in close collaboration by researchers from around the world. Thirteen partner institutions worked together to create the EHT, using both pre-existing infrastructure and support from a variety of agencies. Key funding was provided by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the EU's European Research Council (ERC), and funding agencies in East Asia.

→ event; → horizon; → telescope.

The hottest variety of stars on the → horizontal branch with temperatures ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 K. EHB stars are distinguished from normal horizontal branch stars by having extremely thin, inert hydrogen envelopes surrounding the helium-burning core. They are hot, dense stars with masses in a narrow range near 0.5 Msun. These stars have undergone such extreme mass loss during their first ascent up the giant branch that only a very thin hydrogen envelope survives. Stars identified as EHB stars are found in low metallicity globular clusters as an extension of the normal HB.

→ extreme; → horizontal; → branch; → star.

A → horizontal branch star with high velocity.

→ field; → horizontal; → branch; → star.

Where the apparent → sea horizon would be if there were no → atmospheric refraction.

→ geometric; → horizon.

1) An imaginary circle that delimits the sky and the Earth.
2) The fundamental great circle of the → horizon system, defined by the intersection of the → celestial sphere and a level plane passing through the observer. → celestial horizon.
3) In → Robertson-Walker models, the boundary separating objects already observed from those not yet observed, or the boundary separating objects observable from unobservable (J. Plebanski, A. Krasinski, 2006, An Introduction to General Relativity and Cosmology, Cambridge Univ. Press).
4) → cosmic horizon.
5) → event horizon.
See also:
→ apparent horizon, → artificial horizon, → astronomical horizon, → dip of the horizon, → distance to the horizon, → geometric horizon, → horizon coordinate system, → horizon problem, → horizon system, → particle horizon, → sea horizon, → sensible horizon, → sound horizon, → true horizon, → visible horizon.

From O.Fr. orizon, from orizonte, from L. horizontem (nom. horizon), from Gk. horizon kyklos "bounding circle," from horizein "bound, limit, divide, separate," from horos "boundary."

Ofoq, from Ar.

The coordinate system based on the position of the observer. The horizontal plane is the fundamental plane and the coordinates are → altitude and → azimuth.

→ horizon; → coordinate; → system.

A problem with the standard cosmological model of the Big Bang related to the observational fact that regions of the Universe that are separated by vast distances nevertheless have nearly identical properties such as temperature. This contradicts the fact that light moves with a finite speed and, as a result, certain events which occur in the Universe are completely independent of each other. Inflationary cosmology offers a possible solution.

→ horizon; → problem.

Same as → horizon coordinate system.

→ horizon; → system.

1) Of or pertaining to the → horizon.
2) At right angles to the → vertical; parallel to level ground.
See also:
→ blue horizontal branch star, → extreme horizontal branch star, → field horizontal branch star, → horizontal branch, → horizontal branch star, → horizontal eclipse, → horizontal parallax, → horizontal refraction, → red horizontal branch star, → supra-horizontal branch star, → zero age horizontal branch star.

From → horizon + → -al.

A set of roughly horizontal points in the → Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of a typical → globular cluster. It displays a stage of stellar evolution which immediately follows the → red giant branch (RGB) in stars with an initial mass < 1.2 Msun. When the star's ascent of the RGB is terminated by the → helium flash, it moves down to the HB. The star's → effective temperature on the HB is higher than it was on the RGB, but the luminosity is considerably less than at the helium flash. Usually HB stars have two energy sources: in addition to the → helium burning in their cores, they experience → hydrogen fusion in a surrounding shell. The thickness of the shell determines the color of the HB stars. A thin shell, involving low → opacity, makes the star look blue. The HB domain encompasses a very large effective temperature range with several members: → extreme HB, → blue HB, → RR Lyrae, → red HB, and → red clump stars. The locations depend on many parameters, including stellar mass, metallicity, age, helium abundance, and rotation.

→ horizontal; → branch.

A star lying on the → horizontal branch.

→ horizontal; → branch; → star.