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

1) An improvement in the condition, strength, or fortunes of someone or something.
2) A restoration to life or consciousness.
3) An instance of something becoming popular, active, or important again (OxfordDictionaries.com).

→ revive; → -al.

1a) Regain life, consciousness, or strength.
1b) Give new strength or energy to.
2a) Restore to life or consciousness (OxfordDictionaries.com).

Ultimately from L. revivere; → re-; → survive.

The act of revoking; annulment.

Verbal noun of → revoke.

1) To take back or withdraw; annul, cancel, or reverse; rescind or repeal.
2) To bring or summon back (Dictionary.com).

M.E., from O.Fr. revoquer, from L. revocare "rescind, call back," from → re- "back," + vocare "to call," from vox, → voice.

Vâvacidan, from vâ-, → re-, + vacidan "to call," → convoke.

The movement of a celestial body which is in orbit around another. It is often measured as the → orbital period.

Verbal noun of → revolve.

To move in a an orbit around another object. Compare with → rotate.

M.E. revolven, from L. revolvere "to turn, roll back," from → re- "back, again" + volvere "to roll."

Gardidan variants gaštan "to turn, to change," dialectal gel, gelidan, gellidan "to turn;" gardun "wheel; chariot;" (+ → ni-) navardidan, navard- "to twist; to fold; to stroll;" Mid.Pers. wardidan, walt- "to turn; twist;" Av. varət- "to turn, revolve;" cf. Skt. vart- "to turn, roll," vartate "it turns round, rolls;" L. vertere "to turn;" O.H.G. werden "to become;" PIE base *wert- "to turn, bend."

A dimensionless quantity that governs the conditions for hydrodynamic stability and the occurrence of turbulence in fluids. It is defined by the ratio, R, of the inertial force (ρ u²) and the viscous force (μ u / L), i.e. R = L u ρ/μ, where L is a typical dimension of the system, u is a measure of the velocities that prevail, ρ the density, and μ the kinematic viscosity. At low Reynolds numbers the flow is steady, since the viscous forces are predominant in controlling the flow. At a critical value of R, corresponding to a critical velocity, the flow becomes turbulent.

Named after Osborne Reynolds (1842-1912), a British physicist who pioneered the study of turbulent flows; → number.

A 4th → rank tensor that characterizes the deviation of the geometry of space from the Euclidean type. The curvature tensor R^λ_μνκ is defined through the → Christoffel symbols Γ^λ_μν as follows: R^λ_μνκ = (∂Γ^λ_μκ)/(∂x^ν) - (∂Γ^λ_μν)/(∂x^κ) + Γ^η_μκΓ^λ_ην - Γ^η_μνΓ^λ_ηκ.

→ Riemannian geometry; → curvature; → tensor.

A rule that gives the direction of the resultant vector in a → vector product: A x B = C. It is the direction of advance of a right-hand screw whose axis, held perpendicular to the plane of A and B, is rotated in the same sense that rotates the first-named vector (A) into the second-named vector B through the smaller angle.

→ right; → hand; → screw; → rule.

A type of → Cassegrain telescope in which the → primary mirror is a → hyperboloid. It is designed to eliminate → coma and → spherical aberration, thus providing a relatively large field of view as compared to a more conventional configuration.

Named after the American astronomer George Ritchey (1864-1945) and the French optician Henri Chrétien (1879-1956); → telescope.

The first successful measurement of the → speed of light carried out by the Danish astronomer Ole Rømer in 1675 at Paris Observatory. Astronomers knew that the mean period of revolution for Jupiter's innermost satellite → Io (Jupiter I) was 42.5 hours. During this period Io was sometimes eclipsed by Jupiter. Astronomers expected that if Io was visible at some time it must be visible 42.5 hours later. But Ole Rømer discovered that there were many irregularities in Io's orbital period. Sometimes Io appeared too early and other times too late in relation to the expected times. The irregularities repeated themselves precisely at a one-year interval, which meant that they must be connected to the Earth's rotation around the Sun. Rømer attributed this difference in time to the additional distance the light from Io had to travel at different times, and used this information to calculate the speed of light. He found that it takes light 22 minutes to traverse the Earth's orbital diameter; the correct figure was later determined to be 16 minutes and 40 seconds. Rømer was able to measure the speed of light to be 230,000 km s^-1. Although this figure was very close to the currently accepted value of 300,000 km s^-1, it was rejected by the scientific community of the time, who assumed it to be much too high a figure.

Ole Rømer (1664-1710); → measurement.

If a function f(x) is → continuous on an interval [a,b] and is → differentiable at all points within this interval, and vanishes at the end points x = a and x = b, that is f(a) = f(b) = 0, then inside [a,b] there exists at least one point x = c, a < c < b, at which the derivative f'(x) vanishes.

Named after Michel Rolle (1652-1719), a French mathematician; → theorem.

The square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of the numbers in a given set.

→ root; → mean; → square.

The square root of the second moment corresponding to the frequency function of a random variable.

→ root; → mean; → square; → error.

Statistics: The square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of the deviation of observed values from their arithmetic mean.

→ root; → mean; → square; → deviation.

In → graph theory, a → tree in which one → vertex is distinguished from the other vertices and is called the root.

→ root; → tree.

1) The number of rotations per unit time of a rotating object.
2) The number of → stellar rotations per unit time. The reciprocal of the → rotation period. This parameter usually refers to the equator of the star, because stars do not rotate as solid bodies.

→ rotation; → frequency.

A → neutron star that is spinning down as a result of → torques from → magnetic dipole radiation and particle emission. RPPs derive their energy primarily from the → rotation of the neutron star. The energy from their → spin-down appears as broad-band pulsations from → radio to → gamma-ray wavelengths and as a → wind of energetic particles flowing into their surrounding → pulsar wind nebulae. Since the discovery of RPPs through their radio → pulsations in 1967, more than 2000 → radio pulsars are now known with periods ranging from a few milliseconds to several seconds (A. K. Harding, 2013, Front. Phys. 8, 679).

→ rotation; → power; → pulsar.

Te method of finding the fourth term in a proportion when three terms are given.

→ rule; → three.

Breaking apart or bursting. → plastic, → plasticity.

From L. ruptura "the breaking (of an arm or leg), fracture," from p.p. of rumpere "to break."

Pâregi "rupture," from pâré, → partial; gosast, → Big Rip.