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

The change in the wavelength or frequency of electromagnetic radiation in a gravitational field predicted by general relativity.

→ gravitational; → redshift.

A physical process occurring in → stellar atmospheres whereby in a very stable atmosphere → heavy elements are gravitationally pulled down preferentially. If such an atmosphere is stable for long periods of time, the → absorption lines of heavy elements may therefore become very weak. Observationally, the star seems to contain only → hydrogen and → helium. Gravitational settling takes place in the Sun at the bottom of the outer → convective zone where helium is dragged down, leading to a surface He abundant smaller than the cosmic value. It occurs also in the atmospheres of → brown dwarfs and → planets. See also → radiative levitation, → element diffusion, → thermal diffusion.

→ gravitational; → settling.

Same as → gravity assist.

→ gravitational; slingshot, from sling, from M.E. slyngen, from O.N. slyngva "to sling, fling" + shot, from M.E., from O.E. sc(e)ot, (ge)sceot; cf. Ger. Schoss, Geschoss.

Falâxan "sling;" from Av. fradaxšana- "sling," fradaxšanya- "sling, sling-stone;" → gravitational.

A → space-time oscillation created by the motion of matter, as predicted by Einstein's → general relativity. When an object accelerates, it creates ripples in space-time, just like a boat causes ripples in a lake. Gravitational waves are extremely weak even for the most massive objects like → supermassive black holes. They had been inferred from observing a → binary pulsar in which the components slow down, due to losing energy from emitting gravitational waves. Gravitational waves were directly detected for the first time on September 14, 2015 by the → Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) (Abbott et al., 2016, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 061102). Since then several other events have been detected by LIGO and → Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The Nobel Prize in physics 2017 was awarded to three physicists who had leading roles in the first detection of gravitational waves using LIGO. They were Rainer Weiss (MIT), Barry C. Barish, and Kip S. Thorne (both Caltech).
2) Not to be confounded with → gravity wave.

→ gravitational; → wave.

A theory that treats gravity as a field rather than a force acting at a distance.

→ gravitational; → field.

Objects held in orbit about each other by their → gravitational attraction. Such objects are part of a → bound system.

→ gravitational; → bound.

A hypothetical force-carrying particle predicted by supersymmetry theories. The gravitino's spin would be 1/2; its mass is unknown.

From gravit(on) + (neutr)ino.

A hypothetical elementary particle associated with the gravitational interactions. This quantum of gravitational radiation is a stable particle, which travels with the speed of light, and has zero rest mass, zero charge, and a spin of ± 2.

From gravit(y), → gravity + → -on a suffix used in the names of subatomic particles.

1) The apparent force of → gravitation on an object at or near the surface of a star, planet, satellite, etc.
2) Same as → gravitation and → gravitational interaction.

From L. gravitatem (nom. gravitas) "weight, heaviness," from gravis "heavy," from PIE base *g^wrə- "heavy" (cf. Mod.Pers. gerân "heavy;" Av. gouru- "heavy;" Skt. guru- "heavy, weighty, venerable;" Gk. baros "weight," barys "heavy;" Goth. kaurus "heavy").

Gerâni, noun of gerân "heavy, ponderous, valuable," from Mid.Pers. garân "heavy, hard, difficult;" Av. gouru- "heavy" (in compounds), from Proto-Iranian *garu-; cognate with gravity, as above.

An important astronautical technique whereby a → spacecraft takes up a tiny fraction of the → orbital energy of a planet it is flying by, allowing it to change → trajectory and → speed. Since the planet is not at rest but gravitating around the Sun, the spacecraft uses both the orbital energy and the gravitational pull of the planet. Also known as the slingshot effect or → gravitational slingshot. More specifically, as the spacecraft approaches the planet, it is accelerated by the planet's gravity. If the spacecraft's velocity is too low, or if it is heading too close to the planet, then the planet's → gravitational force will pull it down to the planet. But if its speed is large enough, and its orbit does not bring it too close to the planet, then the gravitational attraction will just bend the spacecraft's trajectory around, and the accelerated spacecraft will pass rapidly by the planet and start to move away. In the absence of other gravitational forces, the planet's gravity would start to slow down the spacecraft as it moves away. If the planet were stationary, the slow-down effect would be equal to the initial acceleration, so there would be no net gain in speed. But the planets are themselves moving through space at high speeds, and this is what gives the "slingshot" effect. Provided the spacecraft is traveling through space in the same direction as the planet, the spacecraft will emerge from the gravity assist maneuver moving faster than before.

→ gravity; assist, from M.Fr. assister "to stand by, help, assist," from L. assistere "assist, stand by," from → ad- "to" + sistere "to cause to stand," from PIE *siste-, from *sta- "to stand" (cognate with Pers. istâdan "to stand").

Yâri "assistance, help; friendship," from yâr "assistant, helper, friend," from Mid.Pers. hayyâr "helper," hayyârêh "help, aid, assistance," Proto-Iranian *adyāva-bara-, cf. Av. aidū- "helpful, useful."

→ gravity darkening.

→ gravity; → brightening.

The darkening, or brightening, of a region on a star due to localized decrease, or increase, in the → effective gravity. Gravity darkening is explained by the → von Zeipel theorem, whereby on stellar surface the → radiative flux is proportional to the effective gravity. This means that in → rotating stars regions close to the pole are brighter (and have higher temperature) than regions close to the equator. Gravity darkening occurs also in corotating → binary systems, where the → tidal force leads to both gravity darkening and gravity brightening. The effects are often seen in binary star → light curves. See also → gravity darkening exponent. Recent theoretical work (Espinosa Lara & Rieutord, 2011, A&A 533, A43) has shown that gravity darkening is not well represented by the von Zeipel theorem. This is supported by new interferometric observations of some rapidly rotating stars indicating that the von Zeipel theorem seems to overestimate the temperature difference between the poles and equator.

→ gravity; → darkening

According to the → von Zeipel theorem, the emergent flux, F, of total radiation at any point over the surface of a rotationally or tidally distorted star in → hydrostatic equilibrium varies proportionally to the local gravity acceleration: F ∝ g_eff^α, where g_eff is the → effective gravity and α is the gravity darkening coefficient. See also the → gravity darkening exponent.

→ gravity; → darkening; → coefficient.

The exponent appearing in the power law that describes the → effective temperature of a → rotating star as a function of the → effective gravity, as deduced from the → von Zeipel theorem or law. Generalizing this law, the effective temperature is usually expressed as T_eff∝ g_eff^β, where β is the gravity darkening exponent with a value of 0.25. It has, however, been shown that the relation between the effective temperature and gravity is not exactly a power law. Moreover, the value of β = 0.25 is appropriate only in the limit of slow rotators and is smaller for fast rotating stars (Espinosa Lara & Rieutord, 2011, A&A 533, A43).

→ gravity; → darkening; → exponent.

Same as → g mode

→ gravity; → mode.

Transient → streamers which form when → clumps of particles begin to collapse under their own → self-gravity but are sheared out by → differential rotation. This phenomenon is believed to be the source of → azimuthal asymmetry in → Saturn's → A ring (Ellis et al., 2007, Planetary Ring Systems, Springer).

→ gravity; → wake.

1) A wave that forms and propagates at the free → surface of a body of → fluid after that surface has been disturbed and the fluid particles have been displaced from their original positions. The motion of such waves is controlled by the restoring force of gravity rather than by the surface tension of the fluid.
2) Not to be confounded with → gravitational wave.

→ gravity; → wave.

The interplay between supersonic turbulence and self-gravity in star forming gas.

Gravo-, from grav-, from → gravity + epenthetic vowel -o- + → turbulence.

(n.) A color between white and black. (adj.) Having a neutral hue.

M.E., O.E. græg, from P.Gmc. *græwyaz; cf. O.N. grar, O.Fris. gre, Du. graw, Ger. grau; Frank. *gris, Fr. gris.

Xâkestari, "ash-colored," from xâkestar "ashes," from Mid.Pers. *xâkâtur, from xâk "earth, dust" + âtur "fire," varaint âtaxš (Mod.Pers. âtaš, âzar, taš), from Av. ātar-, āθr- "fire," singular nominative ātarš-; O.Pers. ātar- "fire;" Av. āθaurvan- "fire priest;" Skt. átharvan- "fire priest;" cf. L. ater "black" ("blackened by fire"); Arm. airem "burns;" Serb. vatra "fire;" PIE base *āter- "fire."

An SI unit of absorbed radiation dose. One gray is equivalent to an energy absorption of 1 → joule/kg. It has replaced the → rad (rd), an older standard. One gray is equivalent to 100 rad. See also → sievert (Sv).

Named for Louis Harold Gray (1905-1965), British radiologist and the pioneer of use of radiation in cancer treatment.