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

1) Same as → center of gravity, → center of inertia, → center of mass, and → barycenter.
2) In a triangle, the point where the three medians converge.

→ center + → -oid.

A class of luminous, → yellow supergiants that are pulsating variables and whose period of variation is a function of their → luminosity. These stars expand and contract at extremely regular periods, in the range 1-50 days. Their highest brightness and surface temperature occur when their expansion velocity is greatest. Similarly, their minima in brightness and temperature occur when they are in the contraction phase. The longer the period, the more luminous the star. The process that drives the pulsation of → Cepheid variables is the → kappa mechanism. In fact, Cepheids provide one of the most powerful tools for measuring distances to other galaxies (→ period-luminosity relation). However, this method is limited to the distance of the → Virgo cluster of galaxies (15-20 → Mpc) even with the → HST or the largest ground-based telescopes. One particularly special Cepheid is the North Star, → Polaris. See also → RR Lyrae star.

Named after the prototype → Delta Cephei discovered by John Goodricke in 1784. → Cepheus.

A → variable star belonging to the class of → Cepheids.

→ Cepheid; → variable.

A → constellation in the Northern Hemisphere lying next to → Cassiopeia. It contains several pulsating variable stars, including the prototype → Cepheid variable Delta Cephei. Abbreviation: Cep, genitive: Cephei.

In Gk. mythology, Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, who was married to the beautiful → Cassiopeia, and was also father of princess → Andromeda.

Kefeus, from Gk. Cepheus. Arabicizd form qifâvus (قیفاووس).

Once qualified as the largest known → asteroid, Ceres is now classified as a → dwarf planet (2006 IAU General Assembly). It is approximately 950 km across, and resides with tens of thousands of asteroids in the main → asteroid belt; it is the largest body of the belt. Its mass is 9.4 × 10²⁰ kg, its → rotation period 9.074 hours, its → orbital period 4.60 years, and its → semi-major axis 2.767 AU. NASA's → Dawn spacecraft, which was placed in orbit around Ceres in 2015, has mapped its surface in great detail from a distance. Dawn caught sight of bright spots that soon resolved into more than 130 bright patches, most of them tied to craters. The most prominent of these spots lie inside the crater → Occator. The patches turned out to be carbonate salts, which only form in the presence of water. Since water skips to gas almost immediately on the dwarf planet's surface, the discovery of carbonates suggested that there was liquid beneath the dwarf planet's crust. Aside from craters, the only outstanding feature On Ceres is a single mountain, Ahuna Mons. It formed about 250 million years ago when plumes of saltwater and mud rose and erupted from within Ceres.

Ceres in Roman mythology was the goddess of growing plants and of motherly love. She was equivalent to Demeter in Gk. mythology.

European Organization for Nuclear Research, founded in 1954, and located on the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland. CERN is one of the world's largest centres for scientific research. At CERN, the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter, i.e. the → elementary particles. The instruments used at CERN are particle → accelerators and → detectors. Currently it has 20 Member States.

CERN, acronym of the organization's original name Centre Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire.

A complex of astronomical telescopes and instruments located approximately 80 km to the East of La Serena, Chile, at an altitude of 2,200 m. CTIO headquarters are located in La Serena, Chile, about 480 km north of Santiago. The principal telescopes on site are the 4-m Victor M. Blanco Telescope and the 4.1-m Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope. One of the two 8-m telescopes comprising the Gemini Observatory is co-located with CTIO on the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) property in Chile, together with more than 10 other telescopes and astronomical projects.

Cerro "mountain" in Spanish; Tololo a proper name; → inter-; American, from America, → North America Nebula; → Observatory.

Determined, fixed; established beyond doubt or question; indisputable. → determinism.

From O.Fr. certain, from V.L. *certanus, from L. certus "sure, fixed," originally a variant p.p. of cernere "to distinguish, decide."

Tâštig, from Mid.Pers. tâštig "certain," tâšitan "to cut, cleave, create," Mod.Pers. tarâšidan, Gilaki tâštan "to shave, scrape, cut," Av. taš- "to cut, fashion, shape, form," taša- "ax, hatchet," tašan- "creator, maker," cf. Skt. taks- "to cut, chop, form by cutting, make, create," taksan "carpenter," Gk. tekhne "art, skill, craft, method," L. textere "to weave;" PIE base *tek- "to shape, make."

The fact, quality, or state of being certain, especially on the basis of evidence. Something that is certain. → uncertainty; → uncertainty principle.

Noun from → certain.

A soft ductile chemical element of the → alkali metal group; symbol Cs. It is found in several → silicate minerals, including pollucite. The metal oxidizes in air and reacts violently with water. → Atomic number 55; → atomic weight 132.9054; → melting point 28.4°C; → boiling point 669.3°C; → specific gravity 1.873 at 20°C; and → valence +1. Cesium has several radioactive isotopes, among which ¹³⁴Cs with a half-life of 2.07 years and ¹³⁷Cs with a half-life of 30.3 years. Cesium was discovered spectroscopically in 1860 by W. Bunsen and G. Kirchhoff in mineral water from Durkheim.

From L. caesius "bluish gray," which was the color of the cesium line in the spectroscope, + → -ium.

→ atomic fountain clock.

→ cesium; → clock.

The Whale, or Sea Monster. A large, rather inconspicuous → constellation in the equatorial region of the sky at R.A. 1h 30m, Dec. -10°. Its brightest star (Diphda) is a 2nd magnitude and contains → Mira Ceti, the first-known variable star, and the → Seyfert galaxy M77. Abbreviation: Cet; genitive form: Ceti.

Named after the sea monster in Gk. mythology sent by Poseidon to punish the Queen → Cassiopeia for bragging that she or her daughter → Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereides. But → Perseus rescued Andromeda.

Ketus, from Gk., Arabicized form Qeytas (قیطس).

The system of → CGS units.

→ CGS unit; → system.

A → metric system of physical units based on → centimeter (length), → gram (mass), and → second (time).

CGS, the initials of → centimeter, → gram, and → second; meter, kilogram, and second; → unit.

The first molecule detected in the interstellar medium. Methylidine radical (CH) was discovered by Walter S. Adams in 1937 using coudé spectroscopy in the direction of the bright star ζ Ophiuchi at the Mount Wilson Observatory (main CH line at 4300 Å).

Chemical term based on Gk. methy "wine," cognate with Pers. mey "wine," from Mid.Pers. mad, may "wine;" Av. maδu- "wine, mead;" cf. Skt. mádhu- "honey, wine, sweet drink," O.E. medu, E. mead, M.Du. mede, Ger. Met "mead;" O.C.S. medu, Lith. medus "honey;" Rus. m'od "honey," m'édved' "bear" (literally "honey-knower"); PIE base *médhu- "honey, sweet drink."

→ CH (methylidine).

→ CH (methylidine); → molecule.

1) A series of usually metal links passing through one another, used for various purposes.
2) A series of things connected or following in succession. → chain reaction; → proton-proton chain.

Chain, from O.Fr. chaeine, from L. catena "fetter."

Zanjir from Mid.Pers. zanjir "chain;" zanjiré, from zanjir + nuance suffix -é.

A succession of → nuclear fissions when the neutrons released by previous fissions produce other nuclear fissions which themselves cause other reactions and the reactions goes on increasing exponentially.

→ chain; → reaction.

A high plateau site located at an altitude of 5,104 m in the Chilean Atacama desert, about 50 kilometers to the east of San Pedro de Atacama (longitude 67° 46' W, latitude 23° 02' S). It is the site of the → Atacama Large Millimeter Array.

In Kunza, the ancestral language of the people living in the region, Chajnantor or Tchacknatur means "lift-off place." It is the place of platforms for worshipping the Sun, where since immemorial time prayers and wishes lifted off (ESO book Cerca del Cielo).

A prefix meaning "copper," used in the formation of compound words.

From Gk. chalko-, combining form of chalkos "copper."

Xalco-, loan from Gk., as above.
Mes-, from mes, → copper.