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

A compact format for writing very large or very small numbers. Numbers are made up of three parts: the coefficient, the base and the exponent. For example 3.58 x 10⁴ is the scientific notation for 35,800.

→ scientific; → notation.

1) Rapid variation in the brightness, wavelength, and mean position of stars caused by turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere.
2) In radio astronomy, rapid fluctuations in the detected intensity of radiation from compact cosmic radio sources due to disturbances in ionized gas through which the radiation has passed. → interstellar scintillation.

From L. scintillationem (nominative scintillatio), from scintillatus p.p. of scintillare "to send out sparks, to flash," from scintilla "particle of fire, spark."

Susu, from su "light," related to suz "burning," present stem of suxtan; Mid.Pers. sôxtan, sôzidan "to burn," Av. base saoc- "to burn, inflame" sūcā- "brilliance," upa.suxta- "inflamed;" cf. Skt. śoc- "to light, glow, burn," śocati "burns," śoka- "light, flame;" PIE base *(s)keuk- "to shine."

A device for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation by means of flashes produced when the radiation particles strike a sensitive layer of phosphor.

→ scintillation; → counter.

Relating to a constraint or system that does not contain time explicitly. For example, a pendulum with an inextensible string of length l₀ is described by the equation: x² + y² = l₀² is both → holonomic and scleronomous.

From Gk. sclero-, from skleros "hard" + -nomous, → -nomy.

Saxtdâtik, from saxt, → hard, + dâtik, → -nomy.

The nearest → OB association to the Sun. It contains several hundred stars, mostly → B stars which concentrate in the three subgroups: Upper Scorpius, Upper Centaurus Lupus, and Lower Centaurus Crux. Upper Scorpius is the youngest subgroup, Upper Centaurus Lupus the oldest subgroup of the association. Isochrone fitting to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram indicates that the star formation occurred some 5-20 Myr ago. Based on data from the → Hipparcos catalog, it turns out that the Sco-Cen association lies at a distance of 118-145 → parsecs, with the exact value depending on the subgroup of the association. The Sco-Cen association is probably a member of the → Gould Belt (Preibisch & Mamajek, 2008, astro-ph/0809.0407).

→ Scorpius; → Centaurus; → association.

Vision that occurs when the eye is dark-adapted. In scotopic vision, the level of luminance is so low that the retinal cones are not stimulated, and there is no color vision. Same as scotopia; → dark adaptation.

Scotopic, from L. Gk. skoto- combining form of skotos "darkness" + -opia akin to ope "view, look," ops "eye, face;" → vision.

Did, → vision; târiki noun from târik "dark," Mid.Pers. târig "dark," târ "darkness," Av. taθra- "darkness," taθrya- "dark," cf. Skt. támisrâ- "darkness, dark night," L. tenebrae "darkness," Hittite taš(u)uant- "blind," O.H.G. demar "twilight."

A character used for on-screen → display. See also → printer font.

→ screen; → font.

The → Coulomb interaction reduced owing to the presence of other electrons. See → shielding effect.

→ screen; → coulomb; → interaction.

The → apparent horizon formed by the sea.

→ sea; → horizon.

One of the four periods of the year astronomically defined by the position of the Sun with respect to the equator. As a result of the obliquity of the ecliptic, the angular distance between the Sun and the equator varies in the course of the year. This circumstance gives rise to seasons. The current lengths of the astronomical seasons, around the year 2000, are about: spring 92.76 days, summer 93.65 days, autumn 89.84 days, and winter 88.99 days. The seasons are unequal because the Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical and the Sun is not exactly at the center of the orbit. Moreover, the Earth moves faster when it is close to the Sun than when it is farther away, so the seasons that occur when the Earth is close to the Sun pass more quickly.

M.E. sesoun, seson, from O.Fr. seison "a sowing, planting," from L. sationem (nominative satio) "a sowing," from p.p. stem of serere "to scatter seed over land."

Fasl, from Ar. faSl "cutting, dividing; section."

A pioneering work in → spectral classification conducted in the 1860s. Secchi divided stars into four main groups based on the visual observation of spectra. Class I: The white and bluish stars with a continuous spectrum crossed by hydrogen bands, the metallic bands being absent or weak. Examples, → Sirius, → Vega. Class II: Yellow stars, with spectra in which the hydrogen bands were less prominent and the metallic lines more strong. Examples, Sun, → Capella. Class III: Red or orange stars, showing bands or flutings. Examples, → Antares, → Betelgeuse. Class IV: Red stars, showing bands similar to Class III, but with the sharp edge of the flutings toward the other end of the spectrum. Secchi's scheme was superseded by the photographic → Harvard classification system.

Pietro Angelo Secchi (1818-1878), Italian astronomer and Jesuit priest; → classification.

1) Next after the first in place, time, or value.
2) The unit of time in the → International System of Units; symbol s. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the cesium frequency Δν_Cs, the unperturbed → ground state  → hyperfine transition  → frequency of the → cesium-133 atom, to be 9 192 631 770 when expressed in the unit → hertz (Hz), which is equal to s^-1.

M.E., from O.Fr. second, from L. secundus "following, next in order," from root of sequi "to follow;" PIE base *sek^w- "to follow;" cf. Pers. az from; Mid.Pers. hac "from;" Av. hac-, hax- "to follow," hacaiti "follows" (O.Pers. hacā "from;" Av. hacā "from, out of;" Skt. sácā "with"); Skt. sácate "accompanies, follows;" Gk. hepesthai "to follow;" Lith. seku "to follow."

1) Dovom, dovomin "ordinal number of do, two" (Mid.Pers. do; Av. dva-; cf. Skt. dvi-; Gk. duo; L. duo; (Fr. deux; E. two; Ger. zwei).
2) Sâniyé, from Ar. sâniyat (feminine) "second."

Math: In calculus, limiting an equation to its → second derivative, for example: e^x≅ 1 + x + x²/2. Also called linear approximation. → first approximation.

→ second; → approximation.

An early evolutionary period in the process of star formation which succeeds the → first collapse. When the mass of the → first core has increased by about a factor 2 and the radius has decreased by a similar factor, the central temperature of the core reaches about 2000 K. At this point the → molecular hydrogen begins to dissociate into atoms. This reduces the → adiabatic index (γ) below the critical value 4/3, with the result that the material at the center of the core becomes unstable and begins to collapse. Most of the gravitational energy generated by this collapse goes into the → dissociation of H₂ molecules, so that the temperature rises only slowly with increasing density. In this second collapse phase, as in the first, the density distribution in the collapsing region becomes more and more sharply peaked at center, and the time scale becomes shorter and shorter with increasing central density. The central collapse of the core continues until the hydrogen molecules are nearly all dissociated and γ again rises above 4/3. The central pressure then rises rapidly and once again becomes sufficient to decelerate and stop the collapse at the center. A small core in the → hydrostatic equilibrium then arises, bounded by a shock front in which the surrounding infalling material is suddenly stopped. The initial mass and radius of the second core are about 3 x 10³⁰ g (1.5 x 10^-3M_sun) and 9 x 10¹⁰ cm (1.3 R_sun) respectively, and the central density and temperature are about 2 x 10^-2 g cm^-3 and 2 x 10⁴ K, respectively. The second core will evolve into a → young stellar object (R. B. Larson, 1969, MNRAS 145, 271).

→ second; → collapse.

The beginning of the total phase of a solar eclipse when the leading edge of the Moon touches the eastern edge of the Sun completely obscuring the Sun.

→ second; → contact.

A hydrostatic object predicted to result from the → second collapse of a → molecular cloud in an early stage of star formation.

→ second; → core.

In → calculus, the → derivative of a → first derivative. It is usually written as f''(x), d²y/d²x, or y''.

→ second; → derivative.

A method, used in → calculus, for determining whether a given → stationary point of a → function is a → local minimum or → local maximum.

→ second; → derivative; → test.

A → dredge-up process that occurs after core helium burning, in which the convective envelope penetrates much more deeply, pushing hydrogen burning shell into close proximity with the helium burning shell (→ first dredge-up). This arrangement is unstable and leads to burning pulses. The reason is that the hydrogen shell burns out until there is enough helium for the helium combustion to occur and all the helium is rapidly burnt. Afterward the hydrogen shell again burns outward and the process repeats.

→ second; → dredge-up.

A star whose formation is induced by an older star itself formed previously in the same region. See also → stimulated star formation, → sequential star formation, → triggered star formation.

→ second; → generation; → star.