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

A spectral line arising from a transition between atomic levels with an ionization potential below approximately 15 electron-volts.

→ low; → ionization; → line.

Same as → LINER.

→ low; → ionization; → nuclear; → emission; → line; → region.

The instant of culmination when the star passes between the pole and the horizon, having an hour angle of 12h. Lower culmination for non-circumpolar objects occur below the horizon and is thus unobservable. Same as → inferior culmination. See also → upper culmination.

→ lower; → culmination.

Number → distribution of → stars or galaxies (→ galaxy) with respect to their → absolute magnitudes. The luminosity function shows the → number of stars of a given intrinsic luminosity (or the number of galaxies per integrated magnitude band) in a given → volume of space.

→ luminosity; → function.

The relation between the stellar luminosity of a galaxy and its physical size. More at → mass-size relation.

→ luminosity; → size; → relation.

See → Moon formation.

→ lunar; → formation.

One of the 28 divisions of the sky, identified by the prominent stars in them, that the Moon passes through during its monthly cycle, as used in ancient Chinese, Hindu, and Arab astronomy/astrology.

From O.Fr. mansion, from L. mansionem (nom. mansio) "a staying, a remaining, night quarters, station," from manere "to stay, abide" (Fr. maison, ménage; E. manor, mansion, permanent); cf. Pers. mân "house, home," mândan "to remain, stay, relinquish, leave;" Mid.Pers. mândan "to remain, stay;" O.Pers. mān- "to remain, dwell;" Av. man- "to remain, dwell; to wait;" Gk. menein "to remain;" PIE base *men- "to remain, wait for."

Manzel, from Ar. "dwelling, habitation, mansion."

The process whereby the → Moon gradually moves out into a slightly larger orbit. The → gravitational attraction of the Moon on the → Earth creates two ocean → tidal bulges on the opposite sides of our planet. The Earth rotates faster than the Moon revolves about the Earth. Therefore, the tidal bulge facing the Moon advances the Moon with respect to the line joining the centers of the Earth and the Moon. The Moon's gravity pulls on the bulge and slows down the → Earth's rotation. As a result, the Earth loses → angular momentum and the days on Earth are gradually increasing by 2.3 milliseconds per century. Since the angular momentum in the → Earth-Moon system is conserved, the Earth must impart the loss in its own angular momentum to the Moon's orbit. Hence, the Moon is being forced into a slightly larger orbit which means it is receding from the Earth. However, eventually this process will come to an end. This is because the Earth's own rotation rate will match the Moon's orbital rate, and it will therefore no longer impart any angular momentum to it. In this case, the planet and the Moon are said to be tidally locked (→ tidal locking). This is a stable situation because it minimises the energy loss due to friction of the system. Long ago, the Moon's own rotation became equal to its orbital period about the Earth and so we only see one side of the Moon. This is known as → synchronous rotation and it is quite common in the solar system. The Moon's average distance from Earth in increasing by 3.8 cm per year. Such a precise value is possible due to the Apollo laser reflectors which the astronauts left behind during the lunar landing missions (Apollo 11, 14, and 15). Eventually, the Moon's distance will increase so much that it will be to far away to produce total eclipses of the Sun.

→ lunar; → recession.

The Moon's motion around its axis, which takes place in 27.321 661 days (→ sidereal month). Since the Moon and the Earth are → tidally locked our satellite has a → synchronous rotation. This means that it rotates once on its axis in the same length of time it takes to revolve around Earth. That is why the Moon always shows the same face to us. However, over time we can see up to 59 percent of the lunar surface because the Moon does not orbit at a constant speed (→ libration in longitude) and its axis is not perpendicular to its orbit (→ libration in latitude). The Moon also creates tides in Earth oceans. As the Earth rotates, the rising and falling sea waters bring about friction within the liquid itself and between the water and solid Earth. This removes energy from Earth's rotation and causes it to spin more slowly. As a result, days are getting longer, at about 2 milliseconds per century. On the other hand, since the → angular momentum of the → Earth-Moon system must be conserved, the Moon gradually moves away from the Earth. This, in turn, requires its orbital period to increase and, because the Moon is tidally locked to Earth, to spin more slowly.

→ lunar; → rotation.

The interval of a complete lunar cycle, between one new Moon and the next, that is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 2.8 seconds. or 29.5306 days. → synodic month.

M.E. lunacyon, from M.L. lunation-.

Mahâyand, literally "coming, arrival of the Moon," from mâh→ moon + âyand "coming, arrival," present stem of âmadan "to come"; O.Pers. aitiy "goes;" Av. ay- "to go, to come," aēiti "goes;" Skt. e- "to come near," eti "arrival;" Gk ion " going," neut. pr.p. of ienai "to go;" L. ire "to go;" Goth. iddja "went," Lith. eiti "to go;" Rus. idti "to go;" from PIE base *ei- "to go, to walk."

→ precession of the equator.

From luni-, from → lunar, + → solar; → precession.

In Saturn's rings, the gap between rings B and C.

Named after Bernard Lyot (1897-1952), French astronomer who discovered the division. He was also a distinguished solar observer and invented (1930) the → coronagraph; → division.

The transport of the magnetic field by a fluid. It is given by the term ∇ x (v x B) in the → induction equation.

→ magnetic; → advection.

Thermal → convection modified by the presence of magnetic fields.

→ magnetic; → convection.

In terrestrial magnetism, the difference between → true north (the axis around which the earth rotates) and magnetic north (the direction the needle of a compass will point,→ magnetic pole).

→ magnetic; → declination.

The process whereby the magnetic field tends to diffuse across the plasma and to smooth out any local inhomogeneities under the influence of a finite resistance in the plasma. For a stationary plasma the → induction equation becomes a pure → diffusion equation: ∂B/∂t = D_m∇²B, where D_m = (μ₀σ₀)^-1 is the → magnetic diffusivity.

→ magnetic; → diffusion.

Same as → magnetic dip or → dip.

→ magnetic; → inclination.

1) Same as → magnetic flux density.
2) The production of a magnetic field in a piece of un-magnetized iron or other → ferromagnetic substance when a magnet is brought near it. The magnet causes the individual particles of iron, which act like tiny magnets, to line up so that the sample as a whole becomes magnetized.

→ magnetic; → induction.

In a → plasma, a change of → magnetic connectivity of plasma elements due to the presence of a localized → diffusion region. It allows charged particles to move from one → magnetic field line to another. Magnetic reconnection is an important process transforming magnetic energy into heat or/and kinetic energy. Magnetic reconnection events occur in the Earth's → magnetosphere. The process plays an important role in explosive phenomena in the Sun, such as → coronal mass ejections and → solar flares which heat the → solar corona.

→ magnetic; → re-; → connection.

The process by which a magnetic system relaxes to its minimum energy state over time.

→ magnetic; → relaxation.