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

An area on the surface of the → Moon that appears darker and smoother than its surroundings, once thought to be seas, now known to be lava-flooded basins; plural maria.

L. mare "sea," plural form maria, because Galileo thought the dark featureless areas on the Moon were bodies of water.

Daryânemâ literally "looking like a sea," from daryâ "sea" (Mid.Pers. daryâp variant zrah; O.Pers. drayah-; Av. zrayah- "sea;" cf. Skt. jráyas- "expanse, space, flat surface") + nemâ "looking, showing," present stem of nemudan "to show, display" (Mid.Pers. nimūdan, nimây- "to show," from O.Pers./Av. ni- "down; into," → ni-, + māy- "to measure," → display.

The → locus of the intersection of input and output → conjugate rays in an optical system satisfying the → Abbe sine condition.

→ Abbe sine condition; → sphere.

1) If a → power series → converges for some nonzero value x₀, then it converges absolutely for any value of x, for which |x| < |x₀|.
2) If a power series → diverges for some nonzero value x₀, then it diverges for any value of x, for which |x| > |x₀|.

Named after the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829); → theorem.

A measurement in which the comparison is directly with quantities whose units are basic units of the system. For example, the measurement of speed by measurements of distance and time is an absolute measurement, but the measurement of speed by a speedometer is not an absolute measurement. Note that the word absolute measurement implies nothing about → precision or → accuracy (IEEE Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms).

→ absolute; → measurement.

Also called → thermodynamic temperature, the value of a → temperature in the → Kelvin scale. It is is equal to the temperature on the → Celsius scale -273.15 °C.

→ absolute; → temperature.

A dip in a spectrum indicating that light has been absorbed on the path from the emitting source to the observer. It may be a line, corresponding to a well-defined atomic or molecular transition, or a more complex feature whose physical origin is not necessarily understood.

→ absorption; → feature.

Chemistry: A bimolecular chemical reaction that involves removal of an atom or ion from a molecule. For example, hydrogen abstraction from methane: CH₄ + Cl → CH₃ + HCl.

→ abstraction; → reaction.

To grow or increase gradually, by the process of → accretion.

Back-formation from → accretion.

The gas involved in various accretion processes, such as that fed into an → accretion disk, pulled by a compact object, or used in the mass growth of a galaxy.

→ accretion; → gas.

That → accretes, such as → accreting star and → accreting neutron star.

Adjective from → accrete + → -ing.

A → neutron star in a → binary system that accretes matter from the → campion star, either from the → stellar wind or from an → accretion disk that forms if the companion overflows its → Roche lobe. The → gravitational energy from the infalling matter provides at least part of the energy for the observed radiation and the accretion torques dominate the spin evolution. Despite these common properties, accreting → neutron stars display a wide variety of behaviors, depending on the neutron star → magnetic field strength, mass of the companion and properties of → accretion (A. K. Harding, 2013, Front. Phys. 8, 679).

→ accreting; → neutron; → star.

The star which → accretes matter, particularly in its protostellar phase or in a close binary system.

→ accreting; → star.

1) The process by which an object increases its mass under the influence of its → gravitational attraction. Accretion plays a key role in a wide range of astrophysical phenomena. In particular stars result from the accretion of material by a → protostar from a surrounding → molecular cloud. The accumulation of mass on the protostar involves the formation of an → accretion disk. Theoretical and observational investigations of protostars and newborn stars indicate the important role of → magnetic fields in this process. They favor the magnetospheric accretion model for mass transfer from the circumstellar disk onto the newborn star. In this model, the stellar magnetosphere → truncates the disk at a few stellar radii. Gas from the disk accretes onto the star along the magnetic field lines and hits the stellar surface at approximately the → free fall velocity, causing a strong accretion shock. Various → emission lines, such as the hydrogen → Balmer series, He I 5876 Å, Brγ 2.17 μm, and so forth are formed in the infalling magnetospheric flow. Moreover, optical/ultraviolet excess continuum emission is produced in the → accretion shocks. The accretion is accompanied by mass ejection through collimated → bipolar jets.
2) Accumulation of dust and gas onto larger bodies by → coalescence under the influence of their mutual → gravitational attraction or as a result of chance collisions.
See also:
→ accretion column, → accretion disk, → accretion flow, → accretion rate, → accretion shock, → accretion time.

L. accretionem (nom. accretio, gen. accretionis) "a growing larger," from stem of accrescere, from ad- "to" + crescere "to grow".

Farbâl from prefix → far- which conveys "increase, abundance" + bâl, from bâlidan "to grow, to wax great," Mid.Pers. vâlitan, Av. varəd-, varədait- "to increase, augment, strengthen, cause to prosper," Skt. vrdh-, vardhati.

The channel through which matter is accreted onto a body such as a → protostar, → white dwarf, → neutron star, or → black hole. The accreting body possesses magnetic fields strong enough to disrupt the → accretion flow and carry the material through column-shaped channels directly on to a small fraction of the stellar surface near the magnetic poles.

→ accretion; → column.

A rotating disk of gas and dust formed around a center of strong gravity that pulls material off a surrounding or near-by gaseous object. Accretion disks are associated with several astrophysical objects such as → binary stars, → protostars, → white dwarfs, → neutron stars, and → black holes. Accretion disk forms because the infalling gas does not directly crash the accreting object due to its too high → angular momentum. The individual particles go into a circular orbit around the accretor because the circular orbit has the lowest energy for a given angular momentum. A spread in angular momentum values will give a population of particles moving on different orbits, so that a rotating disk of matter forms around the object. The matter in the disk becomes very hot due to internal friction and → viscosity as well as the tug of the accreting object. Since this hot gas is being accelerated it radiates energy and loses angular momentum and falls onto the accretor. Theoretical and observational pieces of evidence point to the importance of → magnetic fields in the accretion process. According to current models, the stellar magnetosphere → truncates the disk at a few stellar radii. Gas from the disk accretes onto the star along the magnetic field lines and hits the stellar surface at approximately the → free fall velocity, causing a strong accretion shock. See also → flared disk, → self-shadowed disk, → protoplanetary disk, → alpha disk model.

→ accretion; → disk.

1) Flow of matter during an accretion process.
2) In a → binary system, flow of matter from the losing-mass → companion toward the compact one. The flow can be from a → stellar wind or through the → inner Lagrangian point.
3) → cold accretion flow, → hot accretion flow.

→ accretion; → flow.

The amount of mass → accreted during unit time. The accretion rate for the → collapse of a singular → isothermal sphere is expressed by: dM/dt = 0.975 c_s³/G, where c_s is the isothermal → sound speed (Shu 1977, ApJ 214, 488). This relation can be written as: dM/dt = 4.36 x 10^-6 (T / 20 K)^3/2 in units of solar masses per year, where T is the temperature. Observed temperatures of 10-20 K in regions of → low-mass star formation imply accretion rates of about 10^-6 to 10^-5 solar masses per year. Accretion rates for → massive stars amount to values of 10^-4 to 10^-3 solar masses per year.

→ accretion; → rate.

A → shock wave occurring at the surface of a compact object or dense region that is accreting matter with a → supersonic velocity from its environment. In the case of → young stellar objects the process is believed to take place by funneled streams in the form of → accretion columns that originate in the surrounding → accretion disk and flow along the → field lines of the → protostar → magnetosphere. The gas falls supersonically onto the surface of the central body and its impact produces strong shocks of a few million → kelvin, a phenomenon that is observable in → X-rays.

→ accretion; → shock.

The time necessary for the → accretion of a definite amount of mass with a fixed → accretion rate.

→ accretion; → time.

An → astronomical object that accretes surrounding material. See also → accretion.

Agent noun, from → accrete + → -or.