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

Any plant of the genus Paeonia, having showy, pink, red, or white, globular flowers. Originally cultivated in the temperate regions of Asia, China, Europe, and the northwest parts of North America.

M.E., from M. Fr. peonie, pioiné, from L.L. peonia, from L. pæonia, from Gk. paionia, perhaps from Paion, physician of the gods. The plant was recognized to possess many remedial properties, and was thus given an association with the gods.

Payoniyâ, loan from Gk, as above.

A peony-shaped nebula around the → Wolf-Rayet star WR 102ka as shown by the → Spitzer Space Telescope image at 24 μm. The formation of this infrared bright nebula is attributed to the recent evolutionary history of WR 102ka during → LBV-type eruptions and/or its strong → stellar wind (see, e.g., A. Barniske et al. 2008, A&A 486, 971).

→ peony; → star.