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

A → mechanical system if all of its constituent particles or bodies can occupy arbitrary points in space or have arbitrary velocities. Otherwise, it is called a → constrained system.

→ free; → system.

The radiation emitted when a → free electron is captured by an → ion. See also: → free-free emission; → bound-free transition.

→ free; → bound; → emission.

The characteristic time it would take a body to collapse under its own → gravitational attraction, if no other forces existed to oppose the collapse. It is given by: t_ff = (3π/32 ρ₀ G)^1/2, where ρ₀ denotes the initial density and G the → gravitational constant. Free-fall time is independent of the starting radius. Also known as → dynamical time scale.

→ free fall; → time.

A population of → substellar objects which are not bound to stars; they are detected in young star clusters. Their masses, estimated from their fluxes, is several Jupiter masses, lower than those of → brown dwarfs. Their formation is not yet explained. Among the envisaged possibilities: 1) These objects form like stars, from protostellar core collapse and subsequent accretion; 2) they form as low-mass members of small groups, and are ejected from the group; 3) they form like planets within circumstellar disks of higher-mass objects, but are ejected either due to internal dynamics or external interactions.

→ free; floating, from M.E. float, from O.E. flotian "to float" (cf. O.N. flota, M.Du. vloten); → object.

Barâxt, → object; šenâvar "that swims, floats," from šenâ "swimming;" Mid.Pers. šnâz "swim," šnâzidan "to swim;" Av. snā- "to wash, swim;" cf. Skt. snā- "to bathe, to wash;" L. nare, natare "to swim" (Fr. nage, nager, natation; Sp.nadar, natacion).

→ Electromagnetic radiation produced in a → plasma by → free electrons scattering off → ions without being captured. The electrons are free before the interaction and remain free afterward.

→ free; → emission.

The state of being free or at liberty.

From M.E. fredom, from O.E. freodom, from freo "free; noble, joyful," → free.

Âzâdi "freedom," noun from âzâd, → free.

A statistical finding about "normal" → spiral galaxies, whereby there is an upper limit on the mean central → surface brightness of disks. This value is constant for different spiral types, amounting to 21.65 ± 0.30 mag arcsec² in the B band.

Named after K. C. Freeman (1970, Ap.J. 160, 811); → law.

1) To change from the liquid to the solid state by loss of heat; become hardened into ice.
2) Become hardened into a solid body. → coagulate.

Freeze, from O.E. freosan "turn to ice," from P.Gmc. *freusanan (cf. O.H.G. friosan, Ger. frieren "to freeze"), from *freus-, from PIE base *preus- "to freeze" also "to burn" (cf. Skt. pruśva- "hoar-frost, ice;" L. pruina "hoar-frost," Skt. pruśta- "burnt;" Albanian prus "burning coals;" L. pruna "a live coal").

1) Yax bastan, from yax "ice" + bastan "to bind, shut; to congeal, coagulate." The first component yax, from Av. aexa- "ice, frost," isav-, isu- "icy, chilly," cf. Sarikoli (Pamir dialect) īš "cold," P.Gmc. *isa- (O.N. iss, O.Fris. is, Du. ijs, Ger. Eis). The second component bastan, from Mid.Pers. bastan/vastan "to bind, shut;" Av./O.Pers. band- "to bind, fetter," banda- "band, tie" (cf. Skt. bandh- "to bind, tie, fasten;" PIE *bhendh- "to bind;" Ger. binden; E. bind). 2) Rocidan, → coagulate.

1) The phase transition of a substance passing from the liquid to the solid state; the opposite of → fusion. In meteorology, the freezing of water.
2) Solidification.

Verbal noun from → freeze.

1) The temperature at which a liquid of specified composition changes into a solid under a specified pressure.
2) The temperature at which the liquid and solid phases of a substance of specified composition coexist in equilibrium.

→ freezing; → point.

A calendar composed by Fabre d'Eglantine and others during the French Revolution which divided the year into 12 months of 30 days each, with five odd days called → Sansculottides. The year started at → autumnal equinox and the months were: Vendémiaire (Vintage), Brumaire (Fog), Frimaire (Frost), Nivôse (Snow), Pluviôse (Rain), Ventôse (Wind), Germinal (Buds), Floréal (Flowers), Prairial (Meadows), Messidor (Harvest), Termidor (Heat), Fructidor (Fruits). The week consisted of 10 days, and was called a Décade; each 10th day of Décade (called Décadi) was a day of rest. The calendar was used by the French government for about 12 years, from late 1793 to 1805, when it was suppressed by Napoleon.

M.E. Frensh, French, O.E. Frencisc "of the Franks," from Frank; republican, from republic, from Fr. république, from L. respublica, from res publica "public interest, the state," from res "affair, matter, thing" + publica, feminine of publicus "public;" → calendar.

The number of complete oscillations per unit time of a vibrating system. The reciprocal of the → period, T.

From L. frequentia "assembly, multitude, crowd."

Basâmad, from bas "many, much" (Mid.Pers. vas "many, much;" O.Pers. vasiy "at will, greatly, utterly;" Av. varəmi "I wish," vasô, vasə "at one's pleasure or will," from vas- "to will, desire, wish") + âmad past stem of âmadan "to occur, to come, to become" (Mid.Pers. âmatan; O.Pers. gam- "to come; to go," Av. gam- "to come; to go," jamaiti "goes;" Proto-Iranian *āgmatani; Skt. gamati "goes;" Gk. bainein "to go, walk, step;" L. venire "to come;" Tocharian A käm- "to come;" O.H.G. queman "to come;" E. come; PIE root *gwem- "to go, come").
Feregi, from feré "much, more; increase; priority," farâ(vân) "abundant," Mid.Pers. frêh "more, much;" O.Pers. fra- "before, forth;" Av. frā, fərrā "forth, forward;" PIE base *pro-; cf. L. pro "on behalf of, in place of, before, for;" Gk. pro- "before, in front of."

A range of frequencies that is continuous between two specified limits, selected from a more extended range of frequencies.

→ frequency; → band.

An undesired progressive change in an oscillator's frequency with time.

→ frequency; → drift.

The change in the frequency of a wave motion due to the → Doppler effect.

→ frequency; → shift.

A graphical display of the intensity of radiation or energy versus frequency.

→ frequency; → spectrum.

A mode of observation in radio astronomy in which the telescope remains at a fixed position and data is accumulated while the center of the receiver passband is switched between signal and offset frequencies. Data accumulated at the offset frequency is subtracted from the signal frequency data before storage as a frequency switched scan. → beam switching.

→ frequency; → switching.

Deriving the → wavelength of an undulatory phenomenon from its → frequency, and vice versa.
1) For → electromagnetic waves: λ = c / f, where λ is the wavelength, c is the → speed of light in → meters per second and f the frequency in → hertz. It can be written as: λ (m) = 2.998 × 10⁸ / f (Hz).
2) For → sound waves: λ = C / f, where C is the → sound speed. For air at temperature 0°C, λ (m) = 332 / f (Hz).

→ frequency; → wavelength; → conversion.

The diffraction effects obtained when either the source of light or observing screen, or both, are at a finite distance from diffracting aperture or obstacle. → Fraunhofer diffraction.

Named after Jean Augustin Fresnel (1788-1827), French physicist, a key figure in establishing the wave theory of light. His earlier work on interference was carried out in ignorance of that of Thomas Young (1773-1829), English physician and physicist, but later they corresponded and were allies; → diffraction.

For an electromagnetic wave incident upon the interface between two media with different indices of refraction, one of a set of equations that give the → reflection coefficient and → transmission coefficient at the optical interface. These coefficients depend on the polarization degree of the incident wave.

→ Fresnel diffraction; → equation.