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

A planet much more massive than Earth. The solar system has four giant planets: → Jupiter, → Saturn, → Uranus, and → Neptune.

→ giant; → planet.

A high-luminosity star that has evolved off the → main sequence and lies above the main sequence on the → Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. A member of the → giant branch. → red giant.

→ giant; → planet.

An adjective applied to the phase of the Moon (or a planet) when it is more than half full, but less than entirely full.

From L.L. gibbous "hunchbacked," from L. gibbus "hump, hunch;" cf. Mod.Pers. kaž "crooked, bent, being aside;" Skt. kubja- "hump-backed, crooked;" Pali kujja- "bent;" Lith. kupra "hump."

Kuž "humped," Mid.Pers. kôf "hill, mountain; hump" (Mod.Pers. kuh, "mountain"), kôfik "humpbacked," O.Pers. kaufa-, Av. kaofa- "mountain;" mâh, → moon.

The probability distribution of the various possible states of a certain → quasi-closed subsystem.

→ Gibbs free energy; → canonical; → distribution.

The total energy needed to create a thermodynamic system minus the energy provided the environment. It is defined by G = U + PV -TS, where U is the → internal energy, T the → absolute temperature, S the → entropy, P the → pressure, and V is the final → volume. Same as the → Gibbs function and → thermodynamic potential.

Named after Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839-1903), an American physicist who played an important part in the foundation of analytical thermodynamics; → free; → energy.

Same as → Gibbs free energy.

Named after Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839-1903), an American physicist who played an important part in the foundation of analytical thermodynamics; → function.

A prefix that is used to represent 10⁹ in the SI system.

From Gk. gigas, → giant.

A unit of → frequency, equal to 10⁶ Hz.

→ giga-; → hertz.

1) A support component of a gyroscope, which allows the axis to move freely.
2) A mechanical mounting frame having two mutually perpendicular axes of rotation.

Gimbal, alteration of gemel "twin," from M.E., gemelles, from O.Fr. gemeles (Fr. jumeau, jumelle), from L. gemellus, diminutive of geminus "twin;" cf. Pers. Kermâni dialect jomoli "twin;" → Gemini.

Doqâb, from do "two" (Mid.Pers. do; Av. dva-; cf. Skt. dvi-; Gk. duo; L. duo; O.E. twa; Ger. zwei) + qâb "frame," from Turkish.

The prototype of → T dwarfs discovered by Nakajima et al. (1995, Nature 378, 463). This → brown dwarf lies 21.8 → light-years away and orbits a primary star of type M1 V every about 40 years. It has a temperature of less than 1,200 K, and a mass approximately 20-50 times that of Jupiter. Its luminosity is about 2 x 10 ^-6 that of the Sun.

Gl, referring to the → Gliese catalogue.

An extended mass of ice formed from snow falling and accumulating over the years and moving very slowly, either descending from high mountains, as in valley glaciers, or moving outward from centers of accumulation, as in continental glaciers (Dictionary.com).

From Fr. glacier, from O.Fr. glace "ice," from V.L. glacia, from L. glacies "ice," probably from PIE root *gel-, → cold.

Yaxzâr, from yax, → ice, + -zâr suffix denoting profusion and abundance, as in šurezâr "infertile, salty ground; nitrous earth," xoškzâr "arid land," kârzâr "a field of battle; combat," marqzâr "a place abounding with the grass," and so forth.

The breaking off of chunks of ice at the terminus, or end, of a glacier. Ice breaks because the forward motion of a glacier makes the terminus unstable. Ice or glacier calving is the formal name for the birth of an → iceberg.

→ glacier; → calve.

1) A very harsh, bright, dazzling light.
2) A type of → light pollution which is a blinding light within the field of vision. It compromises security and safety.

M.E. glaren; cognate with M.Du., M.L.G. glaren; akin to glass.

Xirtâv, literally "dazzling light," from xir, from xiré konandé, "dazzling," from xiré "much, many; obstinate; perverse; unwilling;" + tâv, variant tâb, tâbidan "to shine," → luminous.

A noncrystalline, inorganic mixture of various metallic oxides fused by heating with glassifiers such as silica, or boric or phosphoric oxides.

From O.E. glæs, from W.Gmc. *glasam (M.Du. glas, Ger. Glas), from PIE base *gel-/*ghel- "to shine, glitter."

Šišé "glass;" Mid.Pers. šišag.

A mass of glass ready to be shaped into a telescope mirror. Same as → glass disk.

→ glass; blank, from O.Fr. blanc "white, shining," from Frank. *blank "white, gleaming," of W.Gmc. origin (cf. O.E. blanca "white horse"), from P.Gmc. *blangkaz, from PIE *bhleg- "to shine."

Gerdé, → disk; šišé→ glass.

Same as glass blank.

→ glass; → disk.

A filter used in → broad-band photometry. The → bandwidth ranges usually between 30 and 100 nm.

→ glass; → filter.

A coating of ice, generally clear and smooth, formed on exposed objects by the freezing of a film of supercooled water deposited by rain, drizzle, fog, or possibly condensed from supercooled water vapor. Also called glaze ice, verglas, and (especially British) glazed frost.

Glaze, from → glass.

Hasar "ice," probably related to Av. isu- "icy, chilly," aexa- "ice, frost," Mod.Pers. yax "ice;" cf. O.E. is "ice," from P.Gmc. *isa-; Du. ijs, Ger. Eis, E. ice.

A compilation of all known stars within the solar neighborhood with accurately known distances. The first version, Catalogue of Nearby Stars, published in 1957, contained nearly 1000 stars located within 20 pc of Earth, listing their known properties. Gliese published an updated version in 1969, extending the range out to 22 pc. He published the second edition of the catalog in 1979 in collaboration with Hartmut Jahreiss. The combined catalog is now commonly referred to as the Gliese-Jahreiss catalog.

Wilhelm Gliese (1915-1993), a German astronomer who worked at the Heidelberg observatory; → catalog.

A defect or malfunction in a machine or plan.
A brief or sudden interruption or surge in voltage in an electric circuit.
A sudden change in the rotation period of a pulsar.

Glitch, from Yiddish glitsh "slippery area;" cf. glitshn, Ger. glitschen "to slip, slide."

Geles, from Lori gelese "to fall down, to slide."