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

The instability of a physical or mathematical system that arises from the nonlinear nature of relevant variables and their interactions within the system.

→ nonlinear; → instability.

A system in which small changes can result in large effects, and large changes in small effects.

→ nonlinear; → system.

The property, condition, or state of being → nonlinear.

→ non-; → linearity.

A star that is never seen above the horizon from a given position. These stars are located between the celestial pole and a diurnal circle with an angular distance larger than the altitude of the pole.

Nonrising, from → non- + rising adj. of → rise; → star.

Setâré, → star; hamiše penhân, literally "always hidden," coined by Biruni (A.D. 973-1050) in his at-Tafhim, from hamišé "always" (Mid.Pers. hamêšag "always") + penhân "hidden."

Word or language having no meaning. → absurd.

→ non- + → sense.

Jafang "nonsense, futile."

A star that is always seen above the horizon from a given position. These stars are located between the celestial pole and a diurnal circle with an angular distance smaller than the altitude of the pole. Same as → circumpolar star.

Nonsetting, from → non- + setting adj. of → set; → star.

Setâré, → star; hamiše peydâ literally "always visible," coined by Biruni (A.D. 973-1050) in his at-Tafhim, from hamišé "always," → perpetual, + peydâ, → visible.

A → square matrix that is not a → singular matrix.

→ non-; → singular; → matrix.

See also → non-thermal.

→ non-; → thermal.

Same as → suprathermal escape.

→ non-; → thermal; → escape.

Fluid mechanics: Having no → viscosity. Same as → inviscid.

From → non- + → viscous.

The minimum number of resolution elements required to properly sample a signal, such as a star image, without causing erroneous effects known as aliasing. For electronic imaging, this number is generally taken as 2 pixels across the seeing disk diameter at the half intensity points. Also called → Shannon's sampling theorem and → sampling theorem.

Named after Harry Nyquist (1889-1976), a Swedish-born American physicist, who made important contributions to information theory, and Claude Elwood Shannon (1916-2001), an American mathematician and pioneer of information theory; → theorem.

1) An occurrence, circumstance, or fact, in matter or spirit, which can be perceived by human senses. → physical phenomenon.
2) Philosophy: For Kant, a thing as it is apprehended by the human senses as distinguished from a noumenon, or thing-in-itself.

From L.L. phænomenon, from Gk. phainomenon "that which appears or is seen," from phainesthai "to appear," passive of phainein "to bring to light; to show," from PIE base *bhhā- "to shine;" cf. Skt. bhāati "shines, glitters;" Av. bā- "to shine, appear, seem," bāmya- "light, luminous, bright," bānu- "light, ray;" Mid.Pers. bâm "beam of light, splendor," bâmik "brilliant," bâmdâd "morning, dawn."

Padidé, noun from padid "manifest, evident, conspicuous, in sight," variant padidâr, from Mid.Pers. pad didâr "visible," from pad "to, at, for, in," evolved to bé "to; for; in; on; with; by" in Mod.Pers. (O.Pers. paity; Av. paiti "to, toward, in, at;" cf. Skt. práti, Gk. poti) + did past stem of didan "to see, regard, catch sight of, contemplate, experience" (O.Pers. dī- "to see;" Av. dā(y)- "to see," didāti "sees;" cf. Skt. dhī- "to perceive, think, ponder; thought, reflection, meditation," dādhye; Gk. dedorka "have seen").

A quantum of vibrational or acoustic energy in a crystal lattice, being the analog of a photon of electromagnetic energy.

→ phono- + → -on.

A natural → phenomenon that can be explained by → physical laws.

→ physical; → phenomenon.

The third principle of → formal logic introduced in Aristotle's theory of the → syllogism: No statement can be both → true and → false at the same time. Also called → law of non-contradiction.

→ principle; → non-; → contradiction.

A nuclear reaction that takes place at high densities and relatively low temperatures. Pycnonuclear reactions are almost temperature independent and occur even at zero temperature. These reactions are extremely slow at densities typical for normal stars but intensify with increasing density. For example, carbon burns into heavier elements at densities over 10¹⁰ g cm^-3.

Pycnonuclear, from pycno- a combining form meaning "dense, thick," from Gk. pyknos "dense, solid" + → nuclear; → reaction.

Vâžireš, → reaction; cagâl-hasteyi, from cagâl, → dense, + hasteyi, → nuclear.

→ information entropy.

Claude Elwood Shannon (1916-2001), an American mathematician and pioneer of → information theory; → entropy.

Same as → sampling theorem.

→ Shannon entropy; → sampling; → theorem.

A star whose mass exceeds the → canonical upper limit of the stellar → initial mass function (Kroupa et al. 2012, arXiv:1112.3340).

→ super-; → canonical; → star.

Grammar: A word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another in the language. Opposite of → antonym.

From L. synonymum, from Gk. synonymon "word having the same sense as another," from synonymos "having the same name as, synonymous," from → syn- "together, same" + onyma, → name.

Hamcem, from ham-, → syn-, + cem, → meaning.