An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A → subatomic particle produced when → primary cosmic rays, impinge on the Earth's atmosphere producing a particle cascade, in which secondary particles decay into → muons. In the energy range up to 100 → GeV atmospheric muons come mostly from the decay of secondary → pions: π^±→ μ^± + anti-ν_μ. At higher energies, the → kaon contribution to the muon flux become significant, reaching the asymptotic value of 27% at about 10 TeV: K^±→ μ^± + anti-ν_μ.

→ atmospheric; → muon.

A neutrino produced in the collision of → cosmic rays (typically → protons) with nuclei in the → upper atmosphere. This creates a shower of → hadrons, mostly → pions. The pions decay to a → muon and a muon neutrino. The muons decay to an → electron, another muon neutrino, and an electron neutrino.

→ atmospheric; → neutrino.

Noise in radio wavelengths caused by natural atmospheric processes, mainly lightening discharges in thunderstorms. They can affect radio observations.

→ atmospheric; → noise.

The shift in apparent direction of a celestial object caused by the bending of light while passing through the Earth's atmosphere. Since the density of the atmosphere decreases with altitude, the starlight will bend more as it continues down through the atmosphere. As a result, a star will appear higher in the sky than its true direction.

→ atmospheric; → refraction.

The → scattering of → electromagnetic radiation by various particles in the Earth's → atmosphere. The phenomenon is caused by collisions between photons and several scattering agents such as atoms, molecules, → aerosols, and water droplets in clouds. → Rayleigh scattering.

→ atmospheric; → scattering.

Random fluctuations of the atmosphere caused by the constant injection of energy into the atmosphere from solar and local sources, changing the temperature and pressure of the air where it is absorbed and leading to fluid instabilities. The development over time of the instabilities gives rise to fluctuations in the density of air, and therefore the → refractive index of the atmosphere. → turbulence; → seeing.

→ atmospheric; → turbulence.

Gaps in → atmospheric absorption, allowing a range of electromagnetic wavelengths to pass through the atmosphere and reach the Earth.

→ atmospheric; → window.

A telescope developed to perform photometric observations automatically.

→ automatic; → photometric; → telescope.

An → isomorphism between an → object and itself.

→ auto-; → morphism.

A set of nebular → emission line diagrams used to distinguish the ionization mechanism of → nebular gas. The most famous version consists of [N II]λ6584/Hα versus [OIII] λ5007/Hβ. The next two more commonly used BPT diagnostics are [S II] λλ6717,6731/Hα versus [O III] λ5007/Hβ and [O I] λ6300/Hα versus [O III]λ5007/Hβ. These diagrams use strong, optical lines of close proximity in the ratios to limit → reddening and → spectrophotometric effects. They are able to clearly distinguish different classes of → ionization, for example → LINERs from normal → H II regions and → active galactic nuclei.

Baldwin, J. A., Phillips, M. M., Terlevich, R., 1981 PASP 93, 5; → diagram.

The → baryon number compared with the number of photons in the → Universe. The baryon-photon ratio can be estimated in a simple way. The → energy density associated with → blackbody radiation of → temperature  T is aT⁴, and the mean energy per photon is ~kT. Therefore, the number density of blackbody photons for T = 2.7 K is: n_γ = aT⁴/kT = 3.7 x 10² photons cm^-3, where a = 7.6 x 10^-15 erg cm^-3 K^-4 (→ radiation density constant) and k = 1.38 x 10^-16 erg K^-1 (→ Boltzmann's constant). The number density of baryons can be expressed by ρ_m/m_p, where ρ_m is the mass density of the Universe and m_p is the mass of the → proton (1.66 x 10^-24 g). → CMB measurements show that the baryonic mean density is ρ_m = 4.2 x 10^-31 g cm^-3 (roughly 5% of the → critical density). This leads to the value of ~ 2 x 10^-7 for the number density of baryons. Thus, the baryon/photon ratio is approximately equal to η = n_b/n_γ = 2 x 10^-7/3.7 x 10² ~ 5 x 10^-10. In other words, for each baryon in the Universe there is 10¹⁰ photons. This estimate is in agreement with the precise value of the baryon-photon ratio 6.14 x 10^-10 derived with the → WMAP. Since the photon number and the baryon number are conserved, the baryon-photon ratio stays constant as the Universe expands.

→ baryon; → photon; → ratio.

The episodic occurrence of abrupt → mass loss in → Be stars resulting in → Balmer lines in emission and → infrared excess. The Be phenomenon results from a combination of a long-term secular effect and short-term instabilities, such as pulsation. The secular evolution brings the star close enough to the critical → break-up velocity, so that the additional velocity field due to the instability may allow some mass ejection (Maeder 2011).

→ Be star; → phenomenon.

A Cepheid variable in which two or more almost identical periods of variability pass into and out of phase with each other, producing periodic amplitude fluctuations in their light curves. Beat periods are typically about 2 hours.

→ beat; → Cepheid.

The second brightest star in the constellation → Cepheus and the prototype of → Beta Cephei variables. It is a variable B2 type → giant star with a visual magnitude of 3.23 varying with a period of 4.57 hours. Its mass is a dozen times that of the Sun. Beta Cephei is a → triple system lying at a distance of about 600 → light-years. The inner → spectroscopic companion, → spectral type A, is only about 45 AU away, and takes around 90 years to orbit. The third visual companion is at least 2400 AU away, with an orbital period of at least 30,000 years.

Beta (β), the second letter of the Gk. alphabet; → Cepheus.

A variable star, of early B or late O types, undergoing radial pulsations with short periods (< 1 day). Beta Cephei stars are confined within a narrow band of the → H-R diagram above the upper → main sequence. They are believed to be near the end of core hydrogen-burning stars of approximately 10 to 20 solar masses. The famous bright stars → Spica and → Mirzam belong to this family.

→ Beta Cephei; → variable.

Same as → isomorphism.

→ bijective; → morphism.

A specialist in → biophysics.

→ bio-; → physicist.

The science that deals with biological structures and processes involving the application of physical principles and methods.

Biophysics, from → bio- + → physics.

Zistfizik, from zist-, → bio- + fizik→ physics.

The part of a planet or moon within which life can occur. It may include the crust, oceans, and atmosphere.

Biosphere, from → bio- + → sphere.

Zistsepehr, from zizt-, → bio-, + sepehr→ sphere.

The → blackbody surface of the → Universe defined at a → redshift of about z ≥ 2 × 10⁶. This is distinct from the → last scattering surface, in other words the → cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR), which refers to z = 1100. Prior to the epoch of the blackbody photosphere the distortions from the → Big Bang are exponentially suppressed.

→ blackbody; → atmosphere.