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

A flow in which the characterizing conditions, such as → streamlines or velocity at any given point, do not change with time.

→ steady; → flow.

Tacân, → flow; pâyâ "steady, constant," from pâyidan "to stand firm, to be constant, steady," from Mid.Pers. pattây-, pattutan "to last, endure, stay."

A → cosmological model according to which the → Universe has no beginning and no end and maintains the same mean density, in spite of its observed expansion, by the continual creation of matter throughout all space. The theory was first put forward by Sir James Jeans in about 1920 and again in revised form in 1948 by Hermann Bondi and Thomas Gold. It was further developed by Sir Fred Hoyle to deal with problems that had arisen in connection with the alternative → Big Bang model. Observations since the 1950s have produced much evidence contradictory to the steady state theory and supportive of the Big Bang model. More specifically, the steady state theory attributed the → cosmic microwave background to → thermal radiation from → dust clouds, but this cannot account for a single → blackbody spectrum. Moreover, the steady state theory lacked a plausible mechanism for the creation of matter in space. See also → perfect cosmological principle.

→ steady; → state; → theory.

The vapor into which water is changed when boiled.

From M.E. steme, O.E. steam; cognate with Du. stoom, of unknown origin.

Boxâr, → vapor.

An engine in which the energy of hot → steam is converted into → mechanical power, especially an engine in which the force of expanding steam is used to drive one or more → pistons. The source of the steam is typically external to the part of the machine that converts the steam energy into → mechanical energy (Dictionary.com).

→ steam; → engine.

A strong → alloy of → iron containing up to 1.5 percent → carbon along with small amounts of other → chemical elements such as → manganese, → chromium, → nickel, and so forth.

O.E. style; cf. O.S. stehli, O.N., M.L.G. stal, Dan. staal, Swed. stål, M.Du. stael, Du. staal, O.H.G. stahal, Ger. Stahl.

Pulâd, variant fulâd, from Mid.Pers. pôlâwad, pôlâvat, loaned in Arm. polopat, polovat, maybe related to Skt. pavīra- "a weapon with metallic point, a spear, a lance."

A balance used for weighing loads that has a two beams of different lengths. The shorter beam has a hook or the like for holding the object to be weighed and the longer one supports a movable counterpoise that slides to attain a balance.

→ steel; yard, from M.E. yard(e), O.E. gerd "straight twig;" cognate with Du. gard, Ger. Gerte "rod."

Qapân, from kapân "a large balance with one scale, being kept in equilibrium by a weight on the other end of the beam, a lever balance" (Steingass).

The constant of proportionality present in the → Stefan-Boltzmann law. It is equal to σ = 5.670 × 10^-8 W m^-2 K^-4 or 5.670 × 10^-5 erg cm^-2 s^-1 K^-4.

→ Stefan-Boltzmann law; → constant.

The flux of radiation from a blackbody is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature: L = 4πR²σT⁴. Also known as Stefan's law.

Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (1844-1906), an Austrian physicist, who made important contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics and Josef Stefan (1835-1893), an Austrian physicist; → law.

The → moment of inertia of a body about an arbitrary axis x' is equal to the sum of its moment of inertia about axis x, passing through the center of mass of the body and parallel to axis x', and the product of the mass M of the body by the square of the distance d between axes x and x': I_x' = I_x + Md². Same as → parallel axis theorem.

Named after Jakop Steiner (1796-1863), a Swiss mathematician who derived this statement; → theorem.

A small → main belt  → asteroid of size 5.9 x 4 km, discovered in 1969 by N. S. Chernykh. It was visited by the → Rosetta space probe in 2008.

Named after Karlis Šteins (1911-1983), a Latvian and Soviet astronomer.

Same as → aberration of starlight .

→ stellar; → aberratio.

1) A large, loose grouping of 10 to 1000 stars that are of similar spectral type and share a common origin. The members move together through space, but have become gravitationally → unbound. Stellar associations are primarily identified by their common movement vectors and ages. → OB association; → T association; → R association.
2) An → unbound stellar agglomeration for which the age of the stars is smaller than the → crossing time (Giels & Portegies Zwart, 2010, MNRAS Letters, astro-ph/1010.1720). See also → star cluster.

The concept of stellar association was first introduced by Viktor A. Ambartsumian (1908-1996), Armenian astrophysicist (1947, Stellar Evolution and Astrophysics, Armenian Acad. of Sci.; German translation, Abhandl. Sowjetischen Astron. Ser. 1. 33, 1951). → stellar; → association.

The branch of astronomy that deals with the study of stars, their physical properties, formation, and evolution. Same as → stellar astrophysics and → stellar physics.

→ stellar; → astronomy.

The field of → astrophysics concerned with the study of the physical characteristics of stars, more specifically their → internal structure, physical processes taking place in their interiors, atmospheres, → stellar winds, → mass loss, interaction with the → interstellar medium, as well as the physical laws governing → star formation. Same as → stellar physics and → stellar astronomy.

→ stellar; → astrophysics.

The outer envelope of gas and plasma that surrounds a star; characterized by pressure, temperature, density, chemical composition, and opacity at varying altitudes.

→ stellar; → atmosphere.

A model that computes the radiation field crossing the boundary layers of a star at all frequencies. The parameters used for the characterization of a stellar atmosphere model are: → effective temperature, → surface gravity, and → metallicity.

→ stellar; → atmosphere; → model.

A bar-shaped accumulation of stars in galaxies, created by → density waves in a → spiral galaxy. → galactic bar, → barred spiral galaxy.

→ stellar; → bar.

A → black hole with a mass in the range 3-30 → solar masses representing the end-product of → massive star evolution. Since → neutron stars cannot have masses larger than 3 solar masses, compact objects more massive than this must be black holes. There is good observational evidence for the existence of stellar black holes, based in particular on dynamical measurements of the masses of compact objects in → transient X-ray sources. Same as → stellar-mass black hole.

→ stellar; → black; → hole.

Any of the largest stellar assemblages consisting of the groupings of → star clusters, → stellar associations, and individual stars with sizes of 300-1000 → parsecs and ages of up to 100 millions years. Most stellar complexes are physical entities containing objects of common origin and are the birth places of most star clusters and associations. The brightest and youngest complexes are well-known stellar superstructures that outline the Galactic → spiral arms, and also include → H II regions, → giant molecular clouds, and → neutral hydrogen clouds (Efremov, Y. N., 1996, The Origins, Evolutions, and Densities of Binary Stars in Clusters, ASP Conf. Series, Vol. 90).

→ stellar; → complex.

The number of stars born per unit area in the mass range log M to log M + d log M during the time interval t to t + dt. The integration of the creation function over time gives the → present-day mass function (Miller & Scalo, 1797, ApJSS 41, 513).

→ stellar; → creation; → function.