An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A type of nova whose light curve exhibits a characteristically slow development, having a rise time of several days, maximum of several weeks, and slower decline.

→ slow; → nova.

A member of a class of → B stars that are situated along the → main sequence with → spectral types ranging from B2 to B9 and masses from 3 to 7 → solar masses. In the → H-R diagram the SPB group lies below → beta Cephei variables, which are more massive. SPBs show light and line-profile variations that are multi-periodic with periods of the order of days. This variability is understood in terms of non-radial → stellar pulsations, and their → oscillation modes are high-order → g modes. Theoretical models attribute the pulsational nature of SPBs to the → kappa mechanism, acting in the metal → opacity bump at 2 x 10⁵ K. Their g-mode pulsations penetrate deep into the stellar interior, making these objects very promising for → asteroseismology. Several oscillation modes are excited simultaneously, resulting in periodicities on time scales of the order of months or even years. The prototype of this group is 53 Per. First introduced as a distinct class by Waelkens (1991, A&A 246, 453).

→ slow; → pulsating; → B star.

A worm-like gastropod that is related to the → snail family but has no shell.

M.E. slugge "sluggish," probably from Scandinavian; cf. dialectal Norwegian sluggje "heavy, slow person."

Lisak dialectal Tabari (also see Dehxodâ)

Of limited size; of comparatively restricted dimensions; not large. → method of small perturbations; → Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC).

M.E. smale; O.E. smæl "slender, narrow, small;" cf. Dan., Swed., M.Du., Du., O.H.G. smal, O.Fris. smel, Ger. schmal "narrow," Goth. smalista "smallest."

Kucak "small;" Mid.Pers. kucak "small," related to kutâh "short, small, little," kudak "child, infant," kutulé, → dwarf; Mid.Pers. kôtâh "low," kôtak "small, young; baby;" Av. kutaka- "little, small."
Kam "little, few; deficient, wanting; scarce," from Mid.Pers. kam "little, small, few," O.Pers./Av. kamna- "small, few."

Same as → Little Dipper.

→ small; → Little Dipper.

An irregular galaxy, the smaller of the two → Magellanic Clouds that are satellites of our own Galaxy, lying in the southern constellation → Tucana about 20 degrees from the → south celestial pole. The SMC covers an area roughly 3 by 5 degrees in dimension and has an overall → visual magnitude about +2.7. The SMC is about 10,000 → light-years in diameter and some 210,000 light-years (61 → kpc) away. It has a visible mass of about 1/50-th that of our Galaxy and 1/10-th of that of the → Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Its → heavy element content is about a factor 5 smaller than that of the Galaxy. The SMC is the third-nearest external galaxy after the → Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy and the LMC.

→ small; → Magellanic; → cloud.

A term introduced by the → International Astronomical Union (August 2006) to name the → solar system bodies other than → planets and → dwarf planets. Small solar system bodies include → asteroids, → comets, and → meteoroids.

→ small; → solar; → system; → body.

An asteroid taxonomy built on the → Tholen classification but based on the presence or absence of → absorption features in the visible part of the spectrum. In many cases the two classifications are the same, but the Tholen C and S classes are subdivided in the SMASS classification.

SMASS stands for the Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, → small; → main belt; → asteroid; → spectroscopic; → survey; → classification.

A huge, → high-velocity cloud of hydrogen gas that measures some 9,800 × 3,300 → light-years. It is located between 36,000 and 45,000 light-years away from Earth in the northern constellation of → Aquila. It has a mass of at least 10⁶ → solar masses. It is now moving toward the disk of the → Milky Way at 73 ± 26 km/s and is expected to hit the disk of our Galaxy in about 27 million years, at an angle of approximately 45° at a point in the → Perseus Arm, one of two major → spiral arms of the Galaxy.

Named after Gail Bieger, née Smith, who discovered the cloud in 1963, when she was an astronomy student at Leiden University in the Netherlands; → cloud.

A fog combined with smoke or other forms of atmospheric pollutants in an unhealthy or irritating mixture.

From sm(oke) + (f)og; → smoke; → fog.

Dudmeh, from dud, → smoke, + meh, → fog.

A mass of tiny particles in the air that rises up from something burning.

M.E., O.E. smoca, related to smeocan "give off smoke;" cf. M.Du. smooc, Du. smook, M.H.G. smouch, Ger. Schmauch; PIE base *smeug(h)- "smoke" (cf. Arm. mux "smoke," Gk. smukho "to burn in a smoldering fire," O.Ir. much, Welsh mwg "smoke").

Dud, from Mid.Pers. dût, dûd "smoke;" Av. dunman- "cloud," duuan- "to fly;" cf. Skt. dhvan- "to smoke;" Hittite tuhhae- "to prouce smoke;" PIE base *dheu- "to blow, reel; smoke, dark."

1) Of a curve, free from bumps or abrupt irregularities.
2) To modify a sequential set of numerical data by reducing the differences in magnitude between adjacent values.

O.E. smoð "free from roughness, not harsh," of unknown origin.

Hamvâr "level, equal, an even place or thing," from ham- "same, equally, even; together, with" (Mid.Pers. ham-, like L. com- and Gk. syn- with neither of which it is cognate. O.Pers./Av. ham-, Skt. sam-; also O.Pers./Av. hama- "one and the same," Skt. sama-, Gk. homos-; originally identical with PIE numeral *sam- "one," from *som-. The Av. ham- appears in various forms: han- (before gutturals, palatals, dentals) and also hem-, hen-) + -vâr similarity suffix.

1) A curve which is free from abrupt fluctuations.
2) A curve if it has tangents at all points and the angle of inclination of the tangent is a continuous function of the arc length.

→ smooth; → curve.

A numerical method for modeling → compressible hydrodynamic flows, which uses particles to simulate a continuous fluid flow. Because the system of hydrodynamical basic equations can be analytically solved only for few exceptional cases, the SPH method provides a numerical algorithm to solve systems of coupled → partial differential equations for continuous field quantities. The main advantage of the method is that it does not require a computational grid to calculate spatial → derivatives and that it is a Lagrangian method, which automatically focuses attention on fluid elements. The equations of motion and continuity are expressed in terms of ordinary differential equations where the body forces become classical forces between particles. This method was first independently developed by Lucy (1977, AJ 82, 1013) and Gingold & Monaghan (1977, MNRAS 181, 375).

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics, first used by Gingold & Monaghan (1977); → smooth; → particle; → hydrodynamics.

An average of 13 monthly → sunspot numbers, centered on the month of concern. The 1st and 13th months are given a weight of 0.5.

→ smooth; → sunspot; → number.

The mathematical process that makes a curve smooth.

Verbal noun of → smooth.

A low-pass filter designed to reduce the amplitude of a ripple while freely passing the direct current obtained from a rectifier or direct-current generator. Also known as smoothing filter.

→ smoothing; → circuit.

A general name for a member of the large group of terrestrial and fresh-water gastropod molluscs which have a coiled shell. → slug.

M.E. snail, snayl(e), O.E. snegel; cognate with M.H.G. snagel, dialectal Ger. Schnegel.

Râb, dialectal Gilaki and Tabari (also see Dehxodâ). Halazun, from Ar.

The relationship between angles of incidence and refraction for a wave incident on an interface between two media with different indices of refraction. The law states that the ratio of the sine of the → angle of incidence to the sine of the → angle of refraction is a constant: n₁/n₂ = sinθ₂/sinθ₁. See also → refractive index. Also known as Descartes' law or the law of refraction.

Named after Dutch mathematician Willebrord Snellius (1580-1626), one of the discoverers of the law; → law.

A precipitation in the form of → ice crystals that falls from clouds when the air temperature is below 0 °C. Snow occurs when → water vapor in the → atmosphere forms directly into ice and completely bypasses the liquid stage of → precipitation. Once an ice crystal has formed, it absorbs up even more water vapor and freezes due to the surrounding atmosphere. The ice crystal then falls down to earth's surface in the form of a → snow crystal, snow → pellet, or more commonly known as the → snowflake. In short, snow formation requires the following conditions: 1) → relative humidity ≥ 100%, 2) → temperature < 0 °C, 3) presence of → condensation nuclei, and 4) → supercooled droplets.

O.E. snaw "snow;" cf. O.S., O.H.G. sneo, O.Fris., M.L.G. sne, M.Du. snee, Du. sneeuw, Ger. Schnee, O.N. snjor, Goth. snaiws "snow;" PIE base *sneig^wh- "to snow, snow;" cf. Mid.Pers. snêx, snêxr "snow;" Av. snaēg- "to snow," snaēžaiti "snows;" Skt. snih- "wet;" Gk. nipha "snowflake," neiphei "snows;" L. nix (genitive nivis); O.Ir. snigid "snows;" Lith. sniegas; Rus. snieg'.

Barf "snow," dialectal vafr "snow," var, from Mid.Pers. vafr "snow;" Av. vafra- in jaiwi.vafra- "with deep snow."