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

Ecology: The environment consisting of living organisms, which interact with each other and with their non-living surroundings.

Biotic adj. of → biotics; of → environment.

An object, discovered in 1977, which was initially assumed to be an asteroid, but subsequent observations showed it to be a weak comet with a detectable coma. Its orbit, lying now between those of Saturn and Uranus, is unstable on time scales of a million years.

In Gk. mythology, Xειρων (Cheiron or Chiron) was the wisest of the Centaurs; he was not a drunkard like other Centaurs. Chiron was tutor to Jason and Heracles. He was the only immortal centaur.

The circumstances or physical conditions related to the immediate surroundings of a star.

→ circumstellar; → environment.

1) An aggregate of surrounding → circumstances, → conditions, or → influences in which a thing is situated or is developed.
2) Computers: The entire set of conditions under which one operates a → computer, as it relates to the hardware, operating platform, or operating system.
3) Ecology: The totality of circumstances surrounding an → organism or group of organisms. More specifically, the combination of external physical conditions that affect and influence the growth, development, and survival of organisms.

From environ + -ment; the first component from Fr. environs, plural of O.Fr. environ "compass, circuit," from environ (adv.) "around," from en- "in" + viron "circle, circuit," from virer "to turn."

Pargir, from par- "around, surrounding," variant pirâ-→ circum- + gir agent noun and present stem of gereftan "to take, seize; to make prisoner; to intercept" (Mid.Pers. griftan; Av./O.Pers. grab- "to take, seize;" cf. Skt. grah-, grabh- "to seize, take," graha "seizing, holding, perceiving;" M.L.G. grabben "to grab," from P.Gmc. *grab; E. grab "to take or grasp suddenly;" PIE base *ghrebh- "to seize").
Zistbum, from zist "life, existence," → bio-, + bum "region, land, place," → eco-.

Iron in a plus-3 → oxidation state. Ferric iron needs to share three electrons with an oxygen molecule to make the ion neutral.

→ ferric; → iron.

Iron in a plus-2 → oxidation state.

→ ferrous; → iron.

A metallic → chemical element occurring abundantly in combined forms and used alloyed in a wide range of important tools and structural materials; symbol Fe. → Atomic number 26; → atomic weight 55.845; → melting point about 1,535°C; → boiling point about 2,750°C; → specific gravity 7.87 at 20°C; → valence +2, +3, +4, or +6. Iron is of critical importance to life, i.e. plants, humans, and animals. It occurs in hemoglobin, a molecule that carries → oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and then transports → carbon dioxide (CO₂) back from the tissues to the lungs.
Iron has the highest nuclear → binding energy of all elements, and is therefore the most stable element. It is synthesized in → massive stars, and its occurrence ends the process of → thermonuclear reaction in stars. The resulting energy crisis leads to the destruction of the star through a → supernova explosion. It has several → radioactive isotopes with half-lives from 6 min (⁶¹Fe) to about 3 x 10⁵ years (⁶⁰Fe).

Iron, from O.E. isærn, from P.Gmc. *isarnan (cf. O.S. isarn, O.N. isarn, M.Du. iser, O.H.G. isarn, Ger. Eisen) "holy metal" or "strong metal," probably an early borrowing of Celt. *isarnon (cf. O.Ir. iarn, Welsh haiarn), from PIE *is-(e)ro- "powerful, holy," from PIE *eis "strong" (cf. Skt. isirah "vigorous, strong," Gk. ieros "strong").
The chemical symbol Fe, from L. ferrum "iron."

Âhan, Kurd. âsan, Mid.Pers. âhan; Av. aiianhaēna- "made of metal," from aiiah- "metal;" cf. Skt. áyas- "iron, metal;"  L. aes "brass;" Goth. aiz "bronze;" O.H.G. ēr "ore" (Ger. Erz "oar"); O.E. ora "ore, unworked metal," ar "brass, copper, bronze."

The period generally occurring after the → Bronze Age, marked by the widespread use of iron. Its date and context vary depending on the country or geographical region. The Indo-European Hittites are the first people to work iron, in the Asia Minor, from about 1500 BC.

→ iron; → age.

A → convective zone close to the surface of → hot stars caused by a peak in the → opacity due to iron recombination. A physical connection may exist between → microturbulence in hot star atmospheres and a subsurface FeCZ. The strength of the FeCZ is predicted to increase with → metallicity and → luminosity, but decrease with → effective temperature. The FeCZ in hot stars might also produce localized surface magnetic fields. The consequence of the FeCZ might be strongest in → Wolf-Rayet stars. These stars are so hot that the → iron opacity peak, and therefore FeCZ, can be directly at the stellar surface or, better said, at the → sonic point of the wind flow. This may relate to the very strong → clumping found observationally in Wolf-Rayet winds, and may be required for an understanding of the very high → mass loss rates of Wolf-Rayet stars (See Cantiello et al. 2009, A&A 499, 279).

→ iron; → convection; → zone.

1) Electromagnetism: A bar of → soft iron that passes through a coil and serves to increase the → inductance of the coil.
2) The innermost part of some planets, such as Mercury, Venus, and Earth, which have a molten iron-rich core.
3) The end point in the evolution of stars with a mass above ~ 10 → solar masses. Such a star evolves in several stages over millions of years during which various → thermonuclear reactions take place in the star core. Each stage results in a core composed of heavier elements. The process ends when → silicon burning produces a core of iron-nickel. Since iron has the maximum → binding energy per → nucleon, the → nuclear fusion cannot proceed further. The iron core shrinks and heats up. It is maintained against → gravitational collapse by → electron degeneracy pressure, but it continues to grow as Si burning adds more iron. When the core reaches its → Chandrasekhar limit, it becomes unstable and undergoes the → core collapse.

→ iron; → core.

A meteorite which is composed mainly of iron mixed with smaller amounts of → nickel. Iron meteorites make up about 4.4% of all meteorites. See also → stony meteorite, → stony-iron meteorite.

→ iron; → meteorite.

A bump appearing in the plot of stellar → opacity versus temperature. The ionization of the heaviest → chemical elements, especially → iron, which is the most abundant heavy metal, produces a large number of weak spectral → absorption lines. These lines dominate the stellar opacity in the temperature range 10⁵-10⁶ K and furnish two local opacity peaks: a large peak around 2 × 10⁵ K and a smaller one around 1.5 × 10⁶ K (Rogers & Iglesias, 1992, ApJS 79, 507; Iglesias et al. 1992, ApJ, 397, 717).

→ iron; → opacity; → peak.

A maximum on the element-abundance curve in the vicinity of the iron → atomic number 26. The relative higher abundance of the → iron peak elements results from their being the end products of → nucleosynthesis in the interiors of → massive stars.

→ iron; → peak.

A member of a group of elements with → atomic masses A about 40 to 60 that are synthesized by the → silicon burning process and appear in the → iron peak. They are mainly: → titanium (Ti), → chromium (Cr), → manganese (Mn), → iron (Fe), → cobalt (Co), and → nickel (Ni).

→ iron; → peak; → element.

1) Using words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning; containing or exemplifying irony: an ironic novel; an ironic remark.
2) Of, pertaining to, or tending to use irony or mockery; ironical (Dictionary.com).

→ irony; → -ic.

1) The humorous or mildly sarcastic use of words to imply the opposite of what they normally mean. → ironic.
2) An instance of this, used to draw attention to some incongruity or irrationality (Dictionary.com).

From L. ironia, from Gk. eironeia "dissimulation, assumed ignorance," from eiron "dissembler," perhaps related to eirein "to speak."

Govâžé, ultimately from Proto-Ir. *ui-vac-, from *ui- prefix denoting "apart, away, out," cf. Av. vi-, O.Pers. viy-, Skt. vi- (Mod.Pers., e.g., gozidan, → select, gozaštan "to cross," → passage) + *uac- "to say, speak," → word; also govâžidan "to make irony of, to say ironically."

A medium in which chemical elements have abundances smaller than the solar values.

→ low; → metallicity; → environment.

An environment (→ galaxy, → nebula) whose → metallicity is larger than that of the → Milky Way galaxy.

→ metal; → rich; → environment.

A means by which the pretended ignorance of a skillful questioner leads the person answering to expose his own ignorance (Collins).

→ Socratic; → irony.

Iron that has a low carbon content, in contrast to → steel. Because it is easily magnetized and demagnetized, it is used to make the cores of → solenoids and other electrical equipment.

→ soft; → iron.