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

An electron that does not experience relativistic effects since its velocity is very small compared to that of light.

→ non-relativistic; → electron.

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

→ non-relativistic; → mechanics.

The nature of a → non-thermal radiation.

→ non-; → thermal.

→ non-thermal radiation.

→ non-thermal; → emission.

Any of many long and slender structures visible in → radio continuum images of the inner hundred parsecs of the → Galactic Center. NTFs are typically tens of parsecs long and only a fraction of parsec wide. They may occur in isolation or in bundles, such as those comprising the linear portion of the prominent → radio Arc. Their → non-thermal spectrum and strong → linear polarization indicate → synchrotron radiation. The magnetic fields in the NTFs have been estimated from various means. Early estimates centered on the radio Arc, and focused on a comparison between the → magnetic pressure and the estimated → ram pressure from nearby → molecular cloud interactions, indicated magnetic field strengths as high as 1 mG (Morris and Yusef-Zadeh 1985). More recent observations, however, have pointed to significantly weaker magnetic fields among the population of NTFs. Synchrotron models of the radio spectrum imply equipartition magnetic fields between 50-200 μG. Theoretically, it has been challenging to understand the nature of these filaments that resemble extragalactic → radio jets but are not accompanied with any obvious source of acceleration of charged particles to high energy → relativistic energies. Although a number of detailed models have been considered, there is no consensus as to the origin of the NTFs. These models suggest that molecular and ionized gas clouds, mass-losing stars, → Galactic winds, magnetic activity of the → supermassive black hole at the Galactic center, and → lepton production due to → dark matter annihilation play a role in the processes that lead to the production of the NTFs (Linden et al. 2011, ApJ 741,95, and references therein). In most models, the magnetic field is strong and its global geometry in the central region of the Galaxy is considered to be → poloidal and static. However, some recent models have argued that the magnetic field is local and dynamic.

→ non-thermal; → filament.

The electromagnetic radiation whose characteristics do not depend on the temperature of the emitting source. In contrast to → thermal radiation, it has a different spectrum from that of → blackbody radiation. The three common types of non-thermal radiation in astronomy are: → synchrotron radiation, → bremsstrahlung radiation, and → maser  → stimulated emission.

→ non-thermal; → radiation.

A radio emission with a negative → spectral index. In this type of emission the intensity of the emitted radiation increases with wavelength.

→ non-thermal; → spectrum.

Not equal to zero.

→ non-; → zero.

A → polynomial that at least has one non-zero → coefficient. See also → zero polynomial.

→ non-zero; → polynomial.

Adverb, used as prefix denoting "in, into, onto; toward; with continuous activity," etc.

O.E. on, variant of an "in, on, into," from P.Gmc. (cf. Du. aan, Ger. an, Goth. ana "on, upon"), from PIE base *ano "on" (cf. Av. ana "on," Gk. ana "on, upon," L. an-, O.C.S. na, Lith. nuo "down from").

Bar "on; up; upon; in; into; at; forth; with; near; before; according to" (Mid.Pers. abar; O.Pers. upariy "above; over, upon, according to;" Av. upairi "above, over," upairi.zəma- "located above the earth;" cf. Gk. hyper- "over, above;" L. super-; O.H.G. ubir "over;" PIE base *uper "over").
Dar- "in," from Mid.Pers. andar, → intra-.

The state when two or more devices are directly connected and are communicating efficiently.
Of computers, operating under the direct control of, or connected to, a main computer.

→ on; → line.

Preliminary reduction of observational data at a telescope simultaneously with their acquisition.

→ on-line; → reduction.

In comparison with → off-source observation, an observation which is concerned with the source itself.

→ on-; → dource; → observation.

An approximation in the treatment of photoionized → H II regions, whereby secondary ionizing photons are absorbed immediately very close to their site of emission. The secondary photons, produced by → radiative recombinations directly to the → ground states, are thus ignored with respect to the ionizing photons emitted by the → exciting star. The OTS approximation requires that the ionized gas be sufficiently dense so that secondary ionizing photons are very likely absorbed within the H II region.

→ on; → spot; → approximation.

Nazdineš, → approximation; dar "in," from Mid.Pers. andar, → intra-.

Same as → Orion Arm.

→ Orion; → Cygnus; → arm.

The plasma filling space before the → recombination epoch that mainly consisted of → cosmic microwave background radiation photons, electrons, protons, and → light elements.

→ photon; → baryon; → plasma.

The third principle of → formal logic introduced in Aristotle's theory of the → syllogism: No statement can be both → true and → false at the same time. Also called → law of non-contradiction.

→ principle; → non-; → contradiction.

A series of → thermonuclear reactions, taking place mainly in → low-mass stars, such as the Sun, which transforms four hydrogen nuclei (protons) into one helium (⁴He) nucleus and thereby generates energy in the stellar core. First, two protons (¹H) combine to form a → deuterium nucleus (²H) with the emission of a → positron (e⁺) and a → neutrino (ν): ¹H + ¹H → ²H + e⁺ + ν. The deuterium nucleus then rapidly captures another proton to form a helium-3 nucleus (³He), while emitting a → gamma ray (γ): ²H + ¹H → ³He + γ. There are three alternatives for the next step. In the PP I chain, occurring in 86% of the cases, two ³He nuclei fuse to a final ⁴He nucleus while two protons are released: ³He + ³He → ⁴He + ¹H + ¹H. The mass of the resulting ⁴He nucleus is less than the total mass of the four original protons used to produce ⁴He (→ mass defect). The difference, ~ 0.7% of the total mass of the protons, is converted into energy and radiated by the Sun. In this process, the Sun loses some 4 million tons of its mass each second. See also → CNO cycle.

→ proton; → chain.

A → thermonuclear reaction in which two protons collide at very high velocities and combine to form a → deuterium. See also → proton-proton chain.

→ proton; → reaction.

An early epoch in the history of the → Universe when the radiation → density parameter was Ω_r≈ 1, while other density parameters had negligible contributions. A radiation-dominated Universe is characterized by R/R₀ ∝ t^1/2, where R is the → cosmic scale factor and t is time. According to the → Big Bang model, the radiation-dominated phase was followed by the → matter-dominated phase.

→ radiation; → dominate; → Universe.