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

Low-mass → protostars are about an order of magnitude less luminous than expected. Two possible solutions are that → low-mass stars form slowly, and/or protostellar → accretion is episodic. The latter accounts for less than half the missing luminosity. The solution to this problem relates directly to the fundamental question of the time required to form a low-mass star (McKee & Offner, 2010, astro-ph/1010.4307).

→ luminosity; → problem.

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

→ luminosity; → size; → relation.

A measure of the amount of light that a point source radiates in a given direction. It is expressed by the luminous flux per unit leaving the source in the direction per unit of solid angle.

→ luminous; → intensity.

Of magnetic field lines, the condition for them to be connected or the process whereby they become connected or connective.

→ magnetic;→ connectivity.

The → diffusion coefficient for a magnetic field. It is expressed as: η = 1/(μ₀σ), where μ₀ is the → magnetic permeability and σ the → conductivity.

→ magnetic; → diffusivity.

A vector quantity measuring the strength and direction of the magnetic field. It is the → magnetic flux per unit area of a magnetic field at right angles to the magnetic force. Magnetic flux density is expressed in → teslas. Also called → magnetic induction.

→ magnetic; → flux; → density.

A quantity that measures the extent to which the magnetic field lines wrap and coil around each other. It is closely related to field line topology. Magnetic helicity is defined by: H_M = ∫ A . B dV, where A is the vector potential of the magnetic field and the integration is over a volume V. → helicity; → kinetic helicity

→ magnetic; → helicity.

Strength of a magnetic field at a point, denoted H. The force which could be exerted on unit north magnetic pole situated at that point. Measured in oersteds. Same as → magnetic field strength.

→ magnetic; → intensity.

The ratio of the → magnetic induction, B, in the substance to the external magnetic field, H, causing the → induction: μ = B/H. It is measured in henry/meter and is known as absolute permeability. The relative permeability is equal to the ratio of absolute permeability to the permeability of the free space. Thus μ_r = μ/μ₀, where μ₀, the permeability of free space has the value 4π x 10^-7 henry/meter.

→ magnetic; → permeability.

In → plasma physics, a → quantity that describes the → resistance of a → charged particle to change its direction of motion under the influence of a perpendicular → magnetic field. Rigidity is defined as: R = r_LBc = (pc)/(Ze), where r_L is the → Larmor radius, B is → magnetic induction, c is the → speed of light, p is the → momentum of the particle, Z is → atomic number, and e the → electron charge. Since pc has the dimensions of energy and e the dimensions of charge, rigidity has the dimensions of → volts (a 10 GeV proton has a rigidity of 10 GV). In → cosmic ray studies, the energies of cosmic rays are often quoted in terms of their rigidities, rather than their energies per nucleon.

→ magnetic; → rigidity.

A property of material defined by the ratio of the → magnetization to the → magnetic intensity. In other words, the magnetization per unit magnetic intensity.

→ magnetic; → susceptibility.

An instability that arises from the action of a weak → poloidal magnetic field in a → differentially rotating system, such as a → Keplerian disk. The MRI provides a mechanism to account for the additional outward → angular momentum transport. To put it simply, the → frozen magnetic field line acts as a spring connecting two radially neighboring fluid parcels. In a Keplerian disk the inner fluid parcel orbits more rapidly than the outer, causing the spring to stretch. The magnetic tension forces the inner parcel to slow down reducing its angular momentum by moving it to a lower orbit. The outer fluid parcel is forced by the spring to speed up, increase its angular momentum, and therefore move to a higher orbit. The spring tension increases as the two fluid parcels grow further apart, and eventually the process runs away. The MRI was first noted in a non-astrophysical context by E. Velikhov in 1959 when considering the stability of → Couette flow of an ideal hydromagnetic fluid. His result was later generalized by S. Chandrasekhar in 1960. The MRI was rediscovered by Balbus and Hawley 1991 (ApJ 376, 214) who demonstrated that this instability does indeed manifest itself in → accretion disks, and could account for the turbulent mixing needed to explain the observed mass → accretion rates.

→ magneto-; → rotational; → instability.

The greater number, part, or quantity of a whole.

→ major; → -ity.

The mass per unit area of the ring material, integrated through the thickness of the ring. Sometimes called → surface density (Ellis et al., 2007, Planetary Ring Systems, Springer).

→ mass; → density.

The ratio of the mass of a system, expressed in solar masses, to its visual luminosity, expressed in solar luminosities. The Milky Way Galaxy has a mass-luminosity ratio in its inner regions of about 10, whereas a rich cluster of galaxies such as the Coma Cluster has a mass-luminosity ratio of about 200, indicating the presence of a considerable amount of dark matter.

→ mass; → luminosity; → ratio.

A relationship between luminosity and mass for stars that are on the main sequence, specifying how bright a star of a given mass will be. Averaged over the whole main sequence, it has been found that L = M^3.5, where both L and M are in solar units. This means, for example, that if the mass is doubled, the luminosity increases more than 10-fold.

→ mass; → luminosity; → relation.

A correlation between the → stellar mass (or → luminosity) and the → gas metallicity of → star-forming galaxies (Lequeux et al. 1979) according to which massive galaxies have higher gas metallicities. Several large galaxy surveys, such as the → Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), have confirmed that galaxies at all → redshifts with higher stellar masses retain more metals than galaxies with lower stellar masses. Besides the dependence on stellar mass, other studies have found further dependences of gas metallicity on other physical properties at a given mass, such as → specific star formation rate, → star formation rate, and stellar age. These higher dimensional relations could provide additional constraints to the processes that regulate the metal enrichment in galaxies. In addition to gas metallicity, also the → stellar metallicity of galaxies is found to correlate with the stellar mass, suggesting the mass-metallicity relation already existed at early epochs of galaxy evolution (Lian et al., 2017, MNRAS 474, 1143, and references therein).

→ mass; → metallicity; → relation.

The state or quality of being material.

→ material; → -ity.

The density of pure water occurring at 3.98 °C, which is 1.0000 g cm^-3, or 1000 kg m^-3. Water when cooled down contracts normally until the temperature is 3.98 °C, after which it expands. Because the maximum density of water occurs at about 4 °C, water becomes increasingly lighter at 3 °C, 2 °C, 1 °C, and 0 °C (→ freezing point). The density of liquid water at 0 °C is greater than the density of frozen water at the same temperature. Thus water is heavier as a liquid than as a solid, and this is why ice floats on water. When a mass of water cools below 4 °C, the density decreases and allows water to rise to the surface, where freezing occurs. The layer of ice formed on the surface does not sink and it acts as a thermal isolator, thus protecting the biological environment beneath it. This property of water liquid is very unusual; molecules pack more closely than in the crystal structure of ice. The reason is that → hydrogen bonds between liquid water are not stable, they are continuously broken and new bonds are created. In the crystal structure of ice molecules have a fixed pattern creating empty space between molecules.

→ maximum; → density; → water.

The amount of information which can be retained in a memory, usually expressed as the number of words which can be retained. For comparison of different memories this number is expressed in bits.

→ memory; → capacity.