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

The hypothetical and typically extinct language which is believed to be the ancestor of a group of languages of the same family. Historical linguistics uses comparative study of the languages of a family to reconstruct the ancestral language even though in most cases it was never recorded. Some examples are → Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Germanic, Proto-Romance, Proto-Sino-Tibetan, etc.

→ proto-; → language.

A very huge mass of gas which will give rise to a cluster of galaxies.

→ proto-; → cluster.

Computers: A set of rules and methods used for communication and transmission of data between different computer systems. Protocols may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of the two. Simple protocols define the behavior of a hardware connection and help with error detection of the bit stream. High level protocols deal with the data formatting, including the syntax of messages, the terminal to computer dialogue, character sets, sequencing of messages etc.

M.E. prothogall "draft of a document," from M.Fr. prothocole, from M.L. protocollum "draft," literally "the first sheet of a volume" (on which contents were written), from Gk. protokollon "first leaf glued to the rolls of papyrus describing its contents," from → proto- "first" + kolla "glue."

Purvâband from purvâ-, → proto-, + band "joint; joined," past stem of bastan "to bind; to shut; to form seed buds; to clot," from Mid.Pers. bastan/vastan "to bind, shut," Av./O.Pers. band- "to bind, fetter," banda- "band, tie;" Skt. bandh- "to bind, tie, fasten;" PIE *bhendh- "to bind," cf. Ger. binden, E. bind.

A huge mass of gas that by contraction and condensation becomes a galaxy of stars. A galaxy during the early phase, before it has developed its present shape and stellar/gas content.

→ proto-; → galaxy.

A dense disk of liquid and vapor supposed to have formed around the Earth below the Roche limit after the proto-Earth was impacted by a Mars-sized object. The Moon was accreted from the Earth's mantle material froming the disk. See also → Theia (S. Charnoz and C. Michaut, 2015, arxiv.1507.05658).

→ proto-; → lunar; → disk.

A particle of the hadron family which is one of the two particles that make up atomic nuclei. It has an electric charge of one positive fundamental unit, a diameter of about 1.65 x 10^-13 cm, and a mass of about 1.67 x 10^-24 g (about 938 MeV c^-2).

From Gk. proton, neuter of protos "first." Coined by Eng. physicist Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937).

The temperature in the → solar wind, as derived from the mean kinetic energy of protons: mv²/2 = (3/2)kT_p, where k is → Boltzmann's constant. There are two types of proton temperature: parallel temperature, measured from protons moving parallel to the magnetic field, and perpendicular temperature relating to protons at right angles to the magnetic field. The proton temperature is usually derived using particle detectors on board space probes that determine the velocity → distribution function of the particles from their energies (N. Meyer-Vernet, 2007, Basics of the Solar Wind, Cambridge Univ. Press). See also → electron temperature.

→ proton; → temperature.

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.

A compact, hot, and → neutrino-rich object that results from a → supernova explosion and is a transition between an → iron core and a → neutron star or → black hole. The life span of a protoneutron star is less than one minute.

→ proto-; → neutron; → star.

A stage in the formation of a → planet, which comes about from the aggregation of → planetesimals. The protoplanet eventually becomes a planet by → accretion of material from a → protoplanetary disk.

→ proto- + → planet.

Of or relating to a → protoplanet or protoplanets.

→ protoplanet; → -ary.

A → circumstellar disk of gas and dust surrounding a → pre-main sequence star from which planetary systems form. Protoplanetary disks are remnants of → accretion disks which bring forth stars. Typically, their sizes are ~100-500 AU, masses ~10^-2 solar masses, lifetimes ~10⁶-10⁷ years, and accretion rates ~10^-7-10^-8 solar masses per year. According to the standard theory of planet formation, called core accretion, planets come into being by the growth of → dust grains which stick together and produce ever larger bodies, known as → planetesimals. The agglomeration of these planetesimals of 100 to 1000 km in size into rocky Earth-mass planets is the main outcome of this theory. Beyond the → snow line in the disk, if the masses of these cores of rock and ice grow higher than 10 times that of Earth in less than a few million years, gas can rapidly accrete and give rise to giant gaseous planets similar to → Jupiter. If core building goes on too slowly, the disk gas dissipates before the formation of → giant planets can start. Finally the left-over planetesimals that could not agglomerate into rocky planets or core of giant planets remain as a → debris disk around the central object that has become a → main sequence star. An alternative to core accretion theory is formation of planets in a massive protoplanetary disk by → gravitational instabilities. The validity of these two theories is presently debated. See also → protoplanet.

→ protoplanet; → disk.

→ preplanetary nebula.

→ proto-; → planetary; → nebula.

The fluid substance within the living cell that consists of two major divisions, the cytoplasm and the nucleoplasm (cell nucleus). It is composed mainly of nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and inorganic salts.

→ proto- + -plasm, → plasma.

Describing the conditions prior to the formation of the → solar system, or pertaining to the → protostar that became the → Sun.

→ proto- + → solar.

The abundance of a chemical element pertaining to the proto-→ solar nebula from which the → solar system was formed. → CI chondrite; → CAI meteorite.

→ protosolar; → abundance.

A stage in the process of → star formation, after the → gravitational collapse of the dense → pre-stellar core and before the initiation of → nuclear fusion in the central object which will eventually become a star. Protostars are classified into four groups: → Class 0, → Class I, → Class II, and → Class III.

→ proto- + → star.

Of or pertaining to → protostars.

→ proto-; → stellar.

A → gravitational collapse leading to the formation of a → protostar.

→ protostellar; → collapse.