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

The vast, three-dimensional region of space around the Sun filled with the → solar wind and the remnant of the → solar magnetic field carried in it. It is bounded by the → heliopause, which is estimated to be 100 → astronomical units or more from the Sun. The radius of the heliosphere is expected to vary with the → solar cycle. The heliosphere may be very elongated owing to the presence of an interstellar wind of neutral hydrogen flowing from the direction of the Galactic center.

From → helio- + → sphere.

An instrument consisting of a mirror moved by clockwork for tracking the movement of the Sun and reflecting the sunlight into a stationary solar telescope. A heliostat is similar to a → coelostat.

Heliostat, from → helio- + -stat prefix denoting something that stabilizes, keeps, fixes, from -stata, from Gk. -states "one that causes to stand," or statos "standing," from *sta- "to stand."

Hurdâštâr, from hur-, → helio- + dâštâr "holder, maintainer," from dâštan "to hold, maintain; to have; to possess;" Mid.Pers. dâštan; O.Pers./Av. dar- "to hold, keep back, maintain, keep in mind;" cf. Skt. dhr-, dharma- "law;" Gk. thronos "elevated seat, throne;" L. firmus "firm, stable;" Lith. daryti "to make;" PIE base *dher- "to hold, support."

Chemical element; symbol He; atomic number 2; atomic weight 4.0026; melting point below -272°C at 26 atmospheres pressure; boiling point -268.934°C at 1 atmosphere pressure.

Helium, from Gk. helios "sun;" cognate with Persian hur "sun", variant xor; Mid.Pers. xvar "sun;" Av. hû-, hvar- "sun;" Skt. surya-; L. sol; O.H.G. sunna; Ger. Sonne; E. sun; PIE *sawel- "sun." The element was discovered by spectroscopy during a solar eclipse in the Sun's chromosphere in 1868 by the French astronomer Pierre-Jules-Cesar Janssen (1824-1907).

The relative amount of helium with respect to another → chemical species, usually → hydrogen, in an astronomical object.

→ helium; → abundance.

The stage in the evolution of a star, after the exhaustion of hydrogen, when the star produces its energy by the fusion of helium into carbon and oxygen.

→ helium; → burning.

The sudden onset of → helium burning in the core of an → intermediate-mass star that has exhausted its hydrogen and has become a → red giant. With a → degenerate core, the temperature increases but the pressure does not. Therefore, the core cannot expand and cool, so the temperature continues to rise. When it approaches 100,000,000 K, helium will begin to fuse into carbon in the → triple alpha process. The helium flash ends the giant star's ascent of the → red giant branch. However, the violent ignition of helium in the core does not increase the star's luminosity. On the contrary, the energy released in the helium flash expands and cools the core and ultimately results in a reduction in the energy output. On the → H-R diagram the star moves down from red giant branch to the → horizontal branch, a stable state with steady helium burning in the core.

→ helium; → flash.

1) The normal component of → liquid helium (⁴He) existing between the superfluid transition point (→ lambda point about 2.17 K) at 1 atmosphere of pressure and its boiling point of 4.2 K.
2) In stellar and interstellar plasma spectroscopy, neutral helium.

→ helium.

1) A → superfluid, colder component of → liquid helium (⁴He), occurring when → helium I is cooled below the → lambda point.
2) 2) In stellar and interstellar plasma spectroscopy, ionized helium.

→ helium.

A stage in the evolution of an → asymptotic giant branch star, when all the helium in the core is fused into carbon and oxygen. No more fusion takes place in the core, and as a result the core contracts. The core contraction generates a sufficient temperature for fusing the surrounding layers of helium. Since helium shell burning is unstable, it causes → helium shell flashes.

→ helium; → shell; → burning.

A violent outburst of energy that occurs periodically in an → asymptotic giant branch star. It occurs when helium is being burnt in a thin shell surrounding the inner dense core of carbon and oxygen. → Helium shell burning is unstable, producing energy mainly in short intense flashes. The shell flash causes considerable expansion of the star followed by collapse, thus setting up deep convection. As a consequence, the → convective zone in the outer part of the star goes deeper and may → dredge-up carbon to the surface. See also → late thermal pulse; → very late thermal pulse; → AGB final thermal pulse.

→ helium; → shell; → flash.

An → evolved star which has lost most or all of its hydrogen-rich envelope, leaving just a core of helium.

→ helium; → star.

A wavelength calibration of astronomical spectra using a helium-argon light source.

→ helium; → argon; → calibration.

A comparison light source containing the known spectral lines of helium and Argon.

→ helium; → argon; → lamp.

A curve which lies on a cylinder or cone, so that its angle to a plane perpendicular to the axis is constant.

From L. helix "spiral," from Gk. helix (genitive helikos), related to eilein "to turn, twist, roll."

Picâr "that which twists," from pic, present stem of picidan "to twist, entwine, coil" + -ar agent noun suffix (on the model of parastâr, padidâr, dustâr, xâstâr).

A large and bright → planetary nebula in the constellation → Aquarius. Its apparent diameter is about half the size of the full Moon, corresponding to about 2.5 → light-years for a distance of about 700 light-years. It is the nearest bright planetary nebulae to Earth and one of the most spectacular examples of such objects. The Helix Nebula possibly consists of at least two separate disks with outer rings and filaments. The brighter inner disk seems to be expanding at about 100,000 km/h and to have taken about 12,000 years to form. High-resolution observations of the inner edge of the Helix's main ring have revealed thousands of cometary knots of gas with faint tails extending away from the central star. The knots have masses similar to the Earth, but are typically the size of our Solar system. The comet-like shape of the knots results from the steady evaporation of gas from the knots, produced by the strong winds and ultraviolet radiation from the central star of the nebula.The origin of the knots is currently not well understood.

→ helix; → nebula.

One of the largest identified → impact craters both on → Mars and within the → Solar System. Hellas spans more than 2000 km across in the → southern hemisphere, a region that is much more heavily cratered and higher in average elevation than the northern hemisphere. The depth of Hellas from its bottom to its inner rim is more than 4 km. In comparison, the depth of the Grand Canyon in the United States is roughly 1.6 km, that is 2.5 times smaller! The western part of the Hellas basin contains the lowest point on Mars, about 8.2 km below the Mars datum or Martian "sea level." The formation of the impact structure is believed to have taken place in the early Noachian epoch, between 3.9 and 4.6 billion years ago (Planetary Science Institute webpage).

Hellas refers to the classical name for Greece; → basin.

1) Any of various protective head coverings worn by soldiers, policemen, firemen, etc.
2) Something resembling a helmet in form or position. → helmet streamer.

From M.Fr. helmet, diminutive of helme "helmet," from Frank. *helm (cf. O.H.G. helm "helmet"); PIE base *kel- "to cover, to hide;" cf. Av. sar- "shelter;" Laki šârd "hidden, hiddenly," šârden "to hide;" Kurd. šâr-, šârdinawa "to hide;" Skt. śárman- "cover, protection, refuge;" L. celare "to conceal;" Goth. huljan "to cover, conceal;" O.H.G. helan "to hide."

Xud "helmet," from O.Pers. xaudā- "hat, cap," tigra-xauda- "wearing the pointed cap" (as is shown in the sculpture of Skunkha the Scythian at Behistan); Av. xaoδa- "hat, cap, helmet;" Ossetic xodä; Arm. (borrowed) xoir "headband."

A large-scale → coronal feature with apparent → cusp, seen during a → solar eclipse. They usually arise from → sunspots and → active regions, so at the base of a helmet streamer one will often find a → prominence.  They form magnetic loops that connect the sunspots and suspend material above the surface of the Sun.  The magnetic field lines trap the material to form the streamers. The action of the → solar wind is at the origin of the peak feature.

→ helmet; → streamer.

Of a system, the quantity whose decrease gives the maximum amount of external work which is performed when any physical or chemical process is carried out reversibly at constant temperature. It is defined by F = U - TS, where U is the → internal energy, T the → absolute temperature, and S the final → entropy.

After the German physicist and physician Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821-1894), who made important contributions to the thermodynamics of gaseous systems; → free; → energy.

A → decomposition theorem, whereby a continuous → vector field, F, can be broken down into the sum of a → gradient and a → curl term: F = -∇φ + ∇ xA, where φ is called the → scalar potential and A the → vector potential.

→ Helmholtz free energy; → theorem.