An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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Meteo.: A line on a map or graph joining points of equal temperature.

Isotherm, back formation from → isothermal.

Izodamâ, from → iso- + damâ, → temperature.

1) Relating to or having a constant temperature.
2) Pertaining to an → isotherm.

Isothermal, from → iso- + therm, from Gk. therme "heat" thermos "warm;" cognate with Pers. garm "warm" (garmâ "heat, warmth," from Mid.Pers. garmâg; O.Pers./Av. garəma- "hot, warm;" cf. Skt. gharmah "heat;" L. formus "warm," fornax "oven;" P.Gmc. *warmaz; O.E. wearm; E. warm; O.H.G., Ger. warm; PIE *ghworm-/*ghwerm- "warm") + → -al; → process.

Izodamâ, from → iso- + damâ, → temperature.

A → thermodynamic process that takes place at → constant  → temperature. For the temperature of a system to remain strictly constant, the changes in other coordinates (pressure and volume) must be carried out slowly, and → heat must enter or leave the system to maintain a constant temperature. → polytropic process. Astrophysical examples include the → collapse of a → protostar down the → Hayashi track, and the collapse of a star at the end of its life to become a → white dwarf.

→ isothermal; → process.

A → stellar wind in which the gas is subject to only two forces: the inward directed gravity and the outward directed gradient of the gas pressure.

→ isothermal; → wind.

In models of star formation, an isothermal sphere in which the density distribution in the static or nearly static outer envelope obeys an r^-2 power law. In the limit of infinite central concentration, the unstable equilibrium approaches the singular isothermal sphere which has the density and mass distributions ρ(r) = (a²/2πG)r^-2 and M(r) = (2a²/G)r, where a is the isothermal → sound speed inside the cloud, G is the → gravitational constant, and r the distance from the center (F. H. Shu, 1977, ApJ 214, 488).

→ singular; → isothermal; → sphere.