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

The study of the structure and evolution of → language, including → phonetics, → morphology, syntax, semantics.

From linguistic, from linguistic, from linguist, from L. lingua, → language, + → ics.

Zabânik, from zabân, → language, + -ik, → -ics. Zabânšenâsi, from zabân + šenâsi, → -logy.

The study of magnetic phenomena, comprising magnetostatics and electromagnetism.

→ magnetic; → -ics.

The dynamics of an ionized plasma in the non-relativistic, collisional case. In this description, charge oscillations and high frequency electromagnetic waves are neglected. It is an important field of astrophysics since plasma is one of the commonest forms of matter in the Universe, occurring in stars, planetary magnetospheres, and interplanetary and interstellar space.

From → magneto- + → hydrodynamics.

A broad-ranging field of knowledge dealing with the systematic treatment of magnitude, relationships between figures and forms, and relations between quantities expressed symbolically.

M.E. mathematic, from L. mathematica (ars), from Gk. mathematike (tekhne) "mathematical science," from mathema (gen. mathematos) "science, knowledge," (+ -ike, → -ics), related to manthein "to learn, to know" from PIE base *men- "to think," (cf. Av. mazdāh- "memory," as below, Lith. mandras "wide-awake," O.C.S. madru "wise, sage," Goth. mundonsis "to look at," Ger. munter "awake, lively").

Mazdâhik, from Av. mazdāh- "memory," mazdā- "wisdom," mazdāθa- "what must be borne in mind;" from PIE base *men- "to think," as above; cf. Skt. medhā- "mental power, wisdom, intelligence;" Gk. manthein, mathematike, as above.
Riyâzi, loan from Ar. riyâZî, riyâZîyat.

A branch of → physics that deals with motion and the → action of → forces on bodies. Mechanics may be divided into three areas, → kinematics, → dynamics, and → statics.

From mechanic, from L. mechanicus, from Gk. mekhanikos "an engineer," also "inventive," literally "pertaining to machines" (adj.), from mekhane, → machine, + → -ics.

Mekânik, loan from Fr. Sâzokârik, from sokâr, → mechanism, + -ik, → -ic.

The science or study of meteorites.

→ meteorite + → -ics.

Something capable of assisting one's memory. The process or technique of improving the memory.

→ mnemonic; → -ics.

The physics developed since about 1900, which includes Einstein's → relativity theory and → quantum mechanics, as distinguished from → classical physics. Much of modern physics is concerned with the behavior of matter and energy under extreme conditions or on the very small scale.

→ modern; → physics.

A modification of the Newton's law of gravitation below a critical acceleration of about 1.2 x 10^-8 cm s^-2, where the gravitational force scales as 1/r instead of 1/r². Originally put forward to describe the rotation curves of galaxies with no need to assume any dark matter, MOND is now tested at larger cosmological scales (Milgrom, M. 1983, ApJ, 270, 365).

→ modify; → Newtonian dynamics.

An open-source, one-dimensional astrophysical code which is capable of calculating the evolution of stars in a wide range of environments. It works according to the → Henyey method and uses many modules that deal with various aspects of the theoretical models, such as the → equation of state (EOS), → nuclear reaction networks, → chemical composition, micro-physics, or macro-physics. The EOS and corresponding opacities or nuclear networks are provided in tabulated formats and can be selected by the user, while the micro-physics and macro-physics can be controlled by inlists of relevant parameters and settings (Paxton et al. 2015, ApJS 220, 15 and references therein).

→ module; → experiment; → stellar; → astrophysics.

A federal agency of the United States government founded in 1958 for civil aeronautical research and space exploration, superseding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Its goals include improving human understanding of the universe, the solar system, and Earth and establishing a permanent human presence in space. NASA is headquarted at Washington, D.C., and operates several research, development, and test facilities, as follows alphabetically: 1) Ames Research Center; 2) Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards, California, used for flight testing and as a landing site for the Space Shuttle; 3) Glenn Research Center at Cleveland, Ohio, concerned with aircraft and rocket propulsion; 4) Goddard Space Flight Center; 5) Jet Propulsion Laboratory; 6) Johnson Space center; 7) Kennedy Space Center; 8) Langley Research Center at Hampton, Virginia, which carries out research in aeronautics and space technology; 9) Marshall Space Flight Center; 10) the Space Telescope Science Institute; 11) Stennis Space Center, near Bay St Louis, Mississippi, for testing rocket engines; and 12) Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, which manages NASA's sounding rocket and scientific balloon programs.

→ national; → aeronautics; → space; administration, verbal noun of administer, from M.E. amynistre, from O.Fr. aministrer, from L. administrare "to serve, carry out, manage," from → ad- "to" + ministrare "to serve," from minister "servant, priest's assistant," from minus, minor "less," hence "subordinate," + comparative suffix *-teros.

Sâzmân, → organization; fazâyi pertaining to fazâ, → space; Âmrikâ "United State of America."

A system of mechanics based on → Newton's law of gravitation and its derivatives. Same as → classical mechanics.

→ Newtonian; → mechanics.

A → magnetohydrodynamics approach dealing with → plasmas which is an improvement with respect to → ideal magnetohydrodynamics. Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics allows for a drift between particles, redistributing the → magnetic flux and acting on both the → angular momentum and magnetic flux conservation issues.

→ non-→ ideal; → magnetohydrodynamics.

Mechanics in which the masses under consideration move at speeds much slower than the speed of light.

→ non-relativistic; → mechanics.

Same as → chaos.

→ nonlinear; → dynamics.

The branch of physics which is concerned with the study of atomic nuclei, subatomic particles, and their exploitation.

→ nuclear; → physics.

The practical applications of nuclear physics, and the techniques associated with those applications.

From → nucleon + → -ics.

That part of astrophysics that is mainly concerned with the collection of observational data, in comparison with theoretical astrophysics

→ observational; → astrophysics.

A → magnetohydrodynamics treatment in which the → plasma consists only of one particle species and moves with the bulk speed. The thermal motion of the particles is neglected and thus there is no motion of particles relative to each other.

→ one; → fluid; → magnetohydrodynamics.

The branch of physics that deals with the properties and phenomena of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range extending from the ultraviolet (at about 40 nm) to the far-infrared (at 1 mm) and with vision.

Optics, from optic, from M.Fr. optique, from M.L. opticus "of sight or seeing," from Gk. optikos "of or having to do with sight," from optos "seen, visible," from op-, root of opsesthai "be going to see," related to ops "eye," from PIE *ok^w- "eye; to see" (→ eye); → -ics.

Nurik, from nur, → light, + -ik→ -ics. Nuršenâsi, from nur, → light, + šenâsi→ -logy.