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

General: A standard, model, or pattern regarded as typical.
Math.: 1) The magnitude of a vector expressed as the square root of the sum of the squares of the absolute values of the components of the vector.
2) The value that has the highest frequency within a statistical range.

From Fr. norme, from O.Fr., from L. norma "carpenter's square, rule, pattern," of unknown origin.

Hanjâr "a straight road; way, rule, law; habit, custom; conduct; a mason's rule, a plumb-line, a level;" Mid.Pers. hanjâr "right, correct;" from Proto-Iranian *ham-cara-, *han-cara- prefixed *cara- "to move, walk" (cf. Av. car- "to move, go, walk," carāni "I would go," carāt "he would go;" Mod.Pers. caridan "to graze," gozârdan "to explain," gozâreš "explanation"); cf. Skt. samcara- "passage, way, road, path; going about, moving," from prefix sam- + cara- "moving, going, walking;" Gk. pelomai "to move;" L. colere "to till, cultivate, inhabit."

The Carpenter's Square. A small and inconspicuous southern constellation which lies between → Scorpius and → Centaurus. Its brightest star is only of magnitude 4.0. Abbreviation: Nor; genitive: Normae

Initially Norma et Regula, L. translation of l'Équerre et la Règle "the Set Square and the Ruler," as named by Abbé Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (1713-1762).

Guniyâ "carpenter's square," probably related to konj "angle, corner, confined place" (variants xong "corner, angle," Tabari kânj, Kurd. kunj, Hamadâni kom) and zânu "knee" (Av. žnu-), Skt. kona- "angle, corner," Gk. gonia "angle,", gony "knee," L. genu "knee," cuneus "a wedge," Albanian (Gheg dialect) kân "angle, corner," Albanian (Toks) kënd "angle, corner;" PIE base PIE base *g(e)neu-.

1) Conforming to the usual standard, type, custom; not abnormal; regular; natural.
2a) Math.: A perpendicular, particularly a line perpendicular to the tangent of a curve or curved surface at the point of contact of the tangent with the curve or the curved surface. See also → perpendicular; → vertical.
2b) Optics: A line drawn perpendicular to the surface of a reflecting or refracting medium.

From L.L. normalis "standing at right angle, in conformity with rule," from L. normalis "made according to a carpenter's square," from norma "rule, pattern," literally "carpenter's square."

Hanjârvar, hanjârmand, adjectives of hanjâr, → norm.

The dispersion in which a shorter wavelength is associated with a higher → refractive index. Contrasted with the → anomalous dispersion.

→ normal; → dispersion.

A theoretical frequency distribution for a set of variable data, usually represented by a bell-shaped curve with a mean at the center of the curve and tail widths proportional to the standard deviation of the data about the mean. Same as → Gaussian distribution.

→ normal; → distribution.

Of an atom, the same as → ground state.

→ normal; → state.

General: The fact or condition of being normal.
Chemistry: Measure of the number of gram-equivalent weights of a compound per liter of solution.

From → normal + → -ity.

1) A mathematical technique for adjusting a series of values (typically representing a set of measurements) according to some transformation function in order to make them comparable with some specific point of reference.
2) Process of introducing a numerical factor into an equation so that the area under the corresponding graph (if finite) shall be made equal to unity.
3) To change in scale so that the sum of squares or the integral of squares of the transformed quantity is zero.

Verbal noun of → normalize.

To change in scale so that the sum of squares, or the integral of the square, of the transformed quantity is unity.

→ normal + → -ize.

The quality of something that has undergone → normalization.

P.p. of → normalize.

A dimensionless parameter expressed by h(z) = H(z)/H₀, where H(z) is the → Hubble parameter at → redshift z and H₀ is the → Hubble constant.

→ normalized; → Hubble; → parameter.

The → cardinal point at which the → meridian cuts the → horizon below the → north celestial pole.

M.E., O.E. norð, from P.Gmc. *nurtha- (cf. O.N. norðr, M.Du. nort, Du. noord, Ger. nord), ultimately from PIE *ner- "left, below."

Note: North is related to left since it is to the left when one faces the rising Sun. This occurs in, for example, the etymology of E. north, as above. The same goes for Ar. shimal, which also means "left."
Hudar, from hu(y), from Mid.Pers. hôy "left, left hand," from Av. haoiia- "left" (cf. Skt. savyá- "left hand;" O.C.S. šuji; Rus. šuj; Welsh aswy; PIE *seujos) + -dar, from -tar direction suffix, as in Mid.Pers. ošastar "east" (Av. ušastara- "easthern"), dôšastar "west" (Av. daôšatara-, daôšastara- "western"), abâxtar "north" (Av. apāxtara- "northern"), Mod.Pers. bâxtar, → west.

An → H II region in → Cygnus, also known as NGC 7000, resembling the continent North America in long exposure images. This nebula is lying three degrees from bright star → Deneb and spans on the sky over four times the angular size of the full Moon. A dark lane separates the North America Nebula from the → Pelican Nebula, actually part of the same enormous cloud some 2,000 → light-years away.

It was first photographed in 1890 by Max Wolf (1863-1932), a German astronomer, who also first called it the North America Nebula because of its resemblance to the Earth's continent. America, from the feminine of Americus, the Latinized first name of the explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512), who made two trips to the New World as a navigator and claimed to have discovered it. The name America first appeared on a map in 1507 by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, referring to the area now called Brazil; → nebula.

The point in the → northern hemisphere where the → rotation axis of Earth touches the → celestial sphere. The star → Polaris, also called the Pole Star, is located very near this point, at an angular separation of 42 degrees (about 1.4 lunar diameters).

→ north; → celestial; → pole.

The point on → horizon in direction of → geographic north pole.

→ north; → point.

A large area of the north polar region of Mars which is covered with alternating layers of water ice and dust. → South Polar Layered Deposits.

→ north; → polar; → layer; → deposit.

One of the largest coherent structures in the radio sky, projecting from the → Galactic plane at → Galactic longitudel ~ 20° and extending to a very high → Galactic latitudeb ~ +80°. It was first identified in low frequency → radio surveys in the 1950s. The spur is also prominent in → soft X-rays. Its origins and nature have long been debated. However, what causes this phenomena is not well understood. It may be due to a combination of → OB associations and → supernova explosions.

→ north; → polar; → spur.

1) An → imaginary → point in the → northern hemisphere representing the intersection of the → Earth's → rotation axis with the → globe or with the → celestial sphere.
2) For a → magnet, the pole which points toward the geographic north.
3) In a → magnetic field, the point from where a → line of force is leaves for the → south pole.

→ north; → pole.

A star that lies on the → rotation axis of the Earth in the north hemisphere. The → Pole Star is not, in the long term, permanently fixed to the → celestial pole. This is because of the Earth's → axial precession which gradually moves the celestial poles in the sky. It takes about 26,000 years for the precession to turn the pole a full circuit. Currently the North Pole Star is → Polaris, which will continue to mark the north celestial pole for several more centuries. But, around 4,000 B.C. → Gamma Cephei will become the North Pole Star. Around 7,500 B.C., → Alderamin will take up the role. And it will be the brilliant → Vega's (Alpha Lyrae) turn in about 12,000 years. In the past, about 3,000 B.C., → Thuban (Alpha Draconis) was the North Pole Star. Then → Kokab (Beta Ursae Majoris) became the Pole Star from 1500 B.C. to 500 A.D. before leaving the task to Polaris.

→ north; → pole; → star.

→ North Pole Star; → Polaris.

→ north; → star.