An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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An → ionization resulting from a → collision.

→ collisional; → ionization.

A plasma in which the → mean free path of the → charged particles between two → collisions is much smaller than the size of the system containing the plasma.

→ collisional; → plasma.

Same as the → Landau damping.

→ collision; → -less; → damping.

Empirical mathematical transformation applied to the observed magnitudes in order to convert them into a standard system, or into a different system.

→ color; → transformation.

1) General: The act of combining or the state of being combined.
2) Math: The number of ways elements making up a set can be arranged into various groups without regard to their order in the group. → permutation

Noun from → combine

1) Any chemical reaction in which a substance (fuel) combines with oxygen to produce heat and often light. Combustion reactions usually involve a complex sequence of free-radical chain reactions. The light is produced by excited atoms, molecules, or ions.
2) → nuclear combustion.

M.E., from O.Fr. combustion, from L. combustionem (nominative combustio) "a burning," noun of action from p.p. stem of comburere "to burn," from → com-, intensive prefix + urere "to burn."

Suzeš, → burning

A → nomenclature system for naming → comets. In early 1995, a new comet designation system was established by the → International Astronomical Union. The main rules are as follows:
a) If the comet is a newly discovered one, it first gets a provisional name, which closely matches the → asteroid designation system. For example, the first comet discovered in the first half of 1998 January is designated 1998 A1, the second 1998 A2, etc.
b) The name of the person(s) who discovered the comet may be added to this designation (limited, however, to three names). For example, comet → Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) has its full name as Hale-Bopp C/1995 O1, whereas its designation is C/1998 O1. If several people are involved with a discovery at an observatory, the comet may be named after the observatory instead of the individuals.
c) → Long-period comets and one-apparition → periodic comets receive only a provisional designation.
d) A → short-period comet would get the P/designation until it is recovered in a second → apparition. At this point, the P/Year designation would be replaced with a number followed immediately by an upper case P, and a slash followed by the name of the discoverer(s). The number here is one more than the number of known periodic comets that have reappeared. For example, the comet Hug-Bell (P/1999 X1) was given the full name 178P/Hug-Bell after it reappeared in 2007. Previously, 177 periodic comets had got assigned numbers.
e) Long-period comets are indicated by the prefix C.
f) If the comet is destroyed, or if it fails to appear after several apparitions, it would be prefixed D/ (→ defunct comet) followed by the year of its discovery. For example, → Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 has been assigned D/1993 F2 since it was discovered in the second half of March in 1993 and was destroyed when it crashed into Jupiter in 1994.
g) Comets that lack sufficient position measurements for an orbital determination are given the designation of X/ followed by the year of their discovery and the appropriate letter and number code.
h) When a → comet nucleus nucleus splits, each fragment is given the comet designation followed by A, B, C, etc (for fragments).

→ comet; → designation.

Putting a telescope or an observing instrument into active service after their final construction.

From L. commissionem "delegation of business," from commissus, p.p. of committere "to bring together," from → com- "together" + mittere "to put, send."

Râhandâzeš, verbal noun from compound verb râhandâxtan "to set in work; to prepare," from râh "way, path" + andâxtan "to cast; to make, do; to throw."

A period during which a newly constructed observing instrument is used for test.

→ commissioning; → period.

A fraction written as a/b where a and b are → positive  → integers, as opposed to a → decimal fraction; for example, 5/7. Common fractions are sometimes also called → vulgar fractions.

→ common; → fraction.

1) The act or process of communicating; fact of being communicated.
2) The imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs (Dictionary.com).

Verbal noun of → communicate.

General: A substitution, exchange, or interchange.
Electronics: The transfer of current from one channel to another in a gas tube.
Electricity: The reversal of direct current into alternating current.
Math: A commutative operation, where a . b = b . a.

Noun from → commute.

The specification of commutators of operators that in quantum physics correspond to the coordinates and momenta of a system.

→ commutation; → rule.

A Galactic H II region with an electron density ≥ 10³ cm^-3 and of a linear dimension ≤ 1 pc.

→ compact; → H II region.

1) Math.: A process applied to topological spaces having many dimensions to make them compact spaces.
2) Physics: In string theory, the process of "curling up" the extra dimensions (six in the superstring theory). According to these theories, the Universe actually has 10 spatial dimensions but that 7 of them have become "compactified" down to subatomic size and thus are unobservable.

Compactification, n. from → compactify.

1) The act of compacting or the state of being compacted.
2) Geology: The physical process whereby the volume of a fixed mass of sediment reduces either by the weight of overlying deposits or by the pressure of earth movements.

→ compact; → -tion.

The fainter of the two components in a → binary system.

Companion from O.Fr. compaignon "fellow, mate," from L.L. companionem, lit. "bread fellow, messmate," from L. → com- "with" + panis "bread."

Hamdam "bearthing together, i.e. an intimate companion, friend," from ham- "with", → com- + dam "breath," Mod.Pers./Mid.Pers. damidan "to breathe, blow," Av. dāδmainya- "blowing up," cp. Skt. dham- "to blow," dhamati "he bows," Proto-Indo-Iranian *dhamH-, Proto-Iranian *damH- "to blow, breathe; to swell," PIE *dhemH- "to blow."

A faint star of 8th magnitude in a binary system with → Sirius. Called also Sirius B, it is a → white dwarf with a mass comparable to that of the Sun, but with a diameter smaller than that of the Earth. The mean distance between the stars is about 20 A.U. (angular separation 4.6 seconds of arc), and their period of revolution about 50 years. This star was discovered in 1844 by Friedrich Bessel, who noticed that Sirius had a slight wobbling motion, as if it was orbiting an unseen object. In 1863, the optician and telescope maker Alvan Clark spotted the companion. The star was later determined to be a → white dwarf.

→ companion; → Sirius.

1) The act of competing; rivalry for supremacy, a prize, etc. 2) A contest for some prize, honor, or advantage (Dictionary.com).

Verbal noun of → compete + → -tion.

A scenario for → massive star formation whereby developing → protostars in their natal → molecular clouds compete with each other to gather mass. The protostars → accrete mass with a rate which depends on their location within the protocluster. They use the same reservoir of gas to grow. Therefore those protostars nearest the center, where the potential well is deep, and gas densities are higher, have the highest → accretion rates. The competitive accretion model explains the observational fact that the most massive stars are generally found in cluster cores. It accounts also for the distribution of stellar masses. In this model the accretion process depends on the content of the cluster. In clusters where gas dominates the potential (e.g. at initial stages of cluster formation), the accretion process is better modeled by using the → tidal radius as the accretion radius. In contrast, when the stars dominate the cluster potential and are virialized, the accretion is better modeled by → Bondi-Hoyle accretion (Bonnell et al. 1997, MNRAS 285, 201; 2001, MNRAS 323, 785).

→ competitive; → accretion; → model.