An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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1) The visible surface of the Sun (temperature 5700 K), just below the → chromosphere and just above the → convective zone. The solar photosphere is a thin layer of roughly 300 km wide. Its temperature decreases uniformly with height, from about 6,600 K (pressure 0.868 → millibars) at its bottom, to about 4,400 K (pressure 125 mb), where it merges with the chromosphere. The photosphere has a "rice-grain" appearance, called → granulation, caused by rising (hot) and falling (cool) material in the → convective cells just below the photosphere. Other main features of the photosphere are → sunspots, → faculae, and → supergranulation.
2) The region of a star which gives rise to the continuum radiation emitted by the star.

→ photo- + → sphere.

An approximation used in many stellar atmosphere models that depict the atmosphere as being only one-dimensional and bounded at the top and bottom by horizontal plane surfaces normal to the direction of gravity.

→ plane; → parallel; → atmosphere.

A projection or representation of the whole or a part of a sphere on a plane. In particular, a polar projection of the celestial sphere or the Earth on a plane.

→ plani-; → sphere.

In the magnetosphere, a region of relatively cool (low energy) and dense plasma that may be considered an outer extension of the ionosphere with which it is coupled. Like the ionosphere, the plasmasphere tends to co-rotate with the Earth.

→ plasma + → sphere.

A representation that permits an easy visualisation of all different states of → polarization of a vector wave. The equator represents → linear polarization; the north pole corresponds to right-circular and the south pole to left- → circular polarization.

Named after Henri Poincaré (1854-1912), French mathematician and theoretical physicist, and a philosopher of science; → sphere.

A dense zone of magnetized → plasma surrounding a → pulsar. The magnetosphere, lying between the surface of the → neutron star and the → light cylinder, corotates with the pulsar like a rigid body under the effect of strong magnetic field. The magnetosphere's thickness is determined by the constraint that the corotation velocity of its upper surface should not exceed the → speed of light.

→ pilsar; → magnetosphere.

1) An atmospheric condition in which oxidation is prevented by removal of oxygen and other oxidating gasses or vapours. Usually nitrogen or hydrogen gas is used in order to produce specific effects, e.g. on ceramic wares being fired.
2) An atmosphere of a planet or moon which has a high hydrogen content, either in the form of free hydrogen or hydrogen-containing compounds, such as methane or ammonia. The early atmosphere of Earth is thought to be reducing, dominated by carbon dioxide.

Reducing verbal adj. of → reduce; → atmosphere.

An atmosphere of a planet that forms after primordial gases had been lost or had failed to accumulate. A secondary atmosphere develops from internal volcanic outgassing, or by accumulation of material from comet impacts. It is characteristic of terrestrial planets, such as Earth, Mercury, Venus, and Mars. → primordial atmosphere.

→ secondary; → atmosphere.

In models of star formation, an isothermal sphere in which the density distribution in the static or nearly static outer envelope obeys an r^-2 power law. In the limit of infinite central concentration, the unstable equilibrium approaches the singular isothermal sphere which has the density and mass distributions ρ(r) = (a²/2πG)r^-2 and M(r) = (2a²/G)r, where a is the isothermal → sound speed inside the cloud, G is the → gravitational constant, and r the distance from the center (F. H. Shu, 1977, ApJ 214, 488).

→ singular; → isothermal; → sphere.

The half of the → Earth or another → north pole between the → south pole and the → equator.

→ southern; → hemisphere.

The → extreme adaptive optics system and → coronagraphic facility at the → European Southern Observatory (ESO) → Very Large Telescope (VLT) (UT3) available from May 2014. Its primary science goal is imaging, low-resolution spectroscopic, and polarimetric characterization of → exoplanetary system at → visible and → near-infrared wavelengths (0.5-2.32 μm). SPHERE is capable of obtaining → diffraction-limited images at 0''.02 to 0''.08 resolution depending on the wavelength. Its → spectral resolution is 30 to 350, depending on the mode.

→ spectro-; → polarimetric; → high; → contrast; → exoplanet.

A solid geometric figure generated by the revolution of a semicircle about its diameter; equation: x² + y² + z² = r².

M.E. spere, from O.Fr. espere, from L. sphæra "globe, ball, celestial sphere," from Gk. sphaira "globe, ball," of unknown origin.

Koré, loan from Ar. kurat.
Sepehr "sphere, celestial globe, heavens, sky;" Mid.Pers. spihr "sphere, sky, firmament, fate;" Av. spiti- in compounds: spiti-dôiθra- "with clear eyes;" Proto-Iranian *spiθra- (in proper name); cf. Skt. śvitrá- "white, whitish."

The region of space around one of the bodies in a system of two celestial bodies where a third body of much smaller mass is influenced by the gravitational field of that body. The sphere of influence of a planet with respect to the Sun has a radius given by: R = R_P(M_P/M_S)^2/3, where R_P is the radius of the planet's orbit around the Sun, M_P is the mass of the planet, and M_S is the solar mass. The sphere of influence of the Earth has a radius of about 927,000 km or slightly under 150 Earth radii. Beyond this limit, a space probe will come under the influence of the Sun.

→ sphere; → influence.

A series of spheres with varying radii centred on the Earth, each rotating uniformly about an axis fixed with respect to the surface of the next larger sphere, all comprising a model in Greek astronomy to describe the motions of the heavenly bodies. The spheres turned with different speeds about axes with different orientations. The fixed stars revolved around the Earth by the motion of the most distant sphere to which the stars were thought to be attached. Each of the five planets' (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) motion could be described using four spheres. The Sun and the Moon required three spheres each to explain their motions. Therefore, a total of 27 spheres described the behavior of the heavenly bodies in terms of circular motion. Eudoxus was the first person to devise a model that could explain the → retrograde motion of the planets in the sky along a looped curve known as the → hippopede.

→ sphere; Eudoxus (Ευδοξοσ) of Cnidus (c 408 BC - c 355 BC), Greek astronomer and mathematician.

A hypothetical vertical distribution of atmospheric temperature, pressure, and density that, by international agreement, is taken to be representative of the atmosphere for purposes of pressure altimeter calibrations, aircraft performance calculations, aircraft and missile design, ballistic tables, etc.

→ standard; → atmosphere.

The outer envelope of gas and plasma that surrounds a star; characterized by pressure, temperature, density, chemical composition, and opacity at varying altitudes.

→ stellar; → atmosphere.

A model that computes the radiation field crossing the boundary layers of a star at all frequencies. The parameters used for the characterization of a stellar atmosphere model are: → effective temperature, → surface gravity, and → metallicity.

→ stellar; → atmosphere; → model.

The second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, just above the → troposphere and below the → mesosphere, extending from about 20 km to 90 km above the Earth. It is characterized by little vertical increase in temperature.

From Fr. stratosphère, literally "sphere of layers," coined by Fr. meteorologist Léon-Philippe Teisserenc de Bort (1855-1913) from L. stratus "a spreading out" (from p.p. stem of sternere "to spread out") + -sphère (→ sphere), as in atmosphère.

Cine-sepehr, from Ciné, → stratum, + sepehr, → sphere.

A theoretical sphere of → ionized hydrogen created by energetic → ultraviolet→ photons of a hot, → massive star embedded in a uniform interstellar → molecular cloud and lying at the center of the sphere. → H II region.

Named after Bengt Strömgren (1908-1987), a Danish astrophysicist, who put forward the first and simplest version of the model in 1939; → sphere.

The region of the upper atmosphere in which temperature increases continuously with height, starting at roughly 100 km. The thermosphere includes the exosphere and most of the ionosphere.

→ thermo-; → sphere.