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

A → meteor that is brighter than the brightest planets, i.e. with an apparent magnitude of -5 or greater. Fireballs are often followed by → meteorite falls. Also called → bolide.

From → fire + ball, from O.E., from O.N. bollr "ball," from P.Gmc. *balluz (cf. O.H.G. ballo, Ger. Ball), from PIE base *bhel- "to swell."

Tašguy, from taš "fire," variant of âtaš→ fire + guy "ball, sphere," variants golulé, gullé, goruk, gulu, gudé (cf. Skt. guda- "ball, mouthful, lump, tumour," Pali gula- "ball," Gk. gloutos "rump," L. glomus "ball," globus "globe," Ger. Kugel, E. clot; PIE *gel- "to make into a ball").

1) Having a solid structure that resists pressure.
2) Solidly or securely fixed in place.

M.E. ferm, from O.Fr. ferm "strong, vigorous; healthy, sound; steadfast," from L. firmus "strong, steadfast, stable," from PIE root *dher- "to hold firmly, support."

Deš (Hamadâni) "firm, steady," (Ilâmi) dež "intact, entire," (Hamadâni) daj "intact, full," (Šuštari) dec "full," may be related to Proto-Ir. *dar- "to hold, keep;" Av. dār- "to hold, keep;" Pers./ Mid.Pers. dâštan/dâr- "to have, hold, keep;" cf. Skt. dhar- "to hold, keep, preserve;" L. firmus "firm, steady, as above."

Being before all others with respect to time, order, importance, etc., used as the ordinal number of one.

O.E. fyrst "foremost," superlative of fore, from P.Gmc. *furisto (cf. O.H.G. furist, O.N. fyrstr, Dan. første, M.Du. vorste "first," Ger. Fürst "prince"), superlative of *fur-/*for-, from PIE *pro- (cf. Av. pouruua- "first," fra- "forward, forth;" Skt. pūrva- "first," pra- "before, formerly," Gk. pro; L. pro; E. fore).

Naxost, from Mid.Pers. naxust "the first," Parthian Mid.Pers. nxwšt, from naxu, Manichean Parthian nwx "beginning" + -ist superlative suffix, Av. -išta-, cf. Skt. -istha-, Gk. -istos, O.H.G. -isto, -osto, O.E. -st, -est, -ost; naxostin, from naxost + suffix -in.
Yekom, from yek, → one, + -om suffix of ordinal numbers.
Âqâz "beginning," from Proto-Iranian *āgāza-, from prefix ā- + *gāz- "to take, receive," cf. Sogdian āγāz "beginning, start," pcγz "reception, taking."

1) Generally, an expression to indicate that a comment or result is only approximate.
2) Math.: In calculus, limiting a differential equation to its → first derivative, for example: e^x≅ 1 + x. Also called → linear approximation.

→ first; → approximation.

An early phase in the process of star formation which begins when the mass of a → molecular cloud → clump exceeds the → Jeans mass. The collapse is initially → optically thin to the thermal emission from → dust grains, and the compressional heating rate is much smaller than the cooling rate by the → thermal radiation. The collapse proceeds → isothermally. The isothermal condition is broken when the central density reaches about 10^-13 g cm^-3 and a small region at the center of the cloud starts to become → opaque. The heat generated by the collapse in this region is no longer freely radiated away, and the compression becomes approximately → adiabatic. The central temperature and pressure then begin to rise rapidly, soon becoming sufficient to decelerate and stop the collapse at the center. There then arises a small central core, called the → first core, in which the material has stopped collapsing and is approaching → hydrostatic equilibrium. Outside this core, the material is still nearly isothermal and continues to fall inward almost in → free fall. Consequently a shock front arises at the boundary of the core, where the infalling material is suddenly stopped. The initial mass and radius of the core are about 10³¹ g and 6 x 10¹³ cm, respectively, and the central density and temperature are about 2 x 10^-10 g cm^-3 and 170 K, respectively. As the collapse proceeds, the core grows in mass due to the infall of the surrounding material; at the same time, however, the core radius decreases because of radiative energy losses from the outer layers of the core. The process leads to the → second collapse (R. B. Larson, 1969, MNRAS 145, 271).

→ first; → collapse.

1) The beginning of a → solar eclipse when the eastern part of the lunar limb touches the western limb of the Sun, marking the beginning of an eclipse.
2) For a → lunar eclipse, the moment when the eastern limb of the Moon is the first to enter the Earth's shadow.

→ first; → contact.

A first object in → hydrostatic equilibrium predicted to form during early dynamical contraction of a → molecular cloud → clump in the course of the → first collapse.

→ first; → core.

A equation in which the highest → exponent of the → variable is 1. Same as → linear equation.

→ first; → degree; → equation.

The simplest mathematical → differentiation of one quantity relative to another; df(x)/dx. It is the same as → derivative, contrasted with the → second derivative or the nth derivative.

→ first; → derivative.

In → calculus, a method for determining whether an → inflection point is a → local minimum, → local maximum, or neither.

→ first; → derivative; → test.

The → dredge-up occurring after core hydrogen burning as the core contracts before helium burning ignites (on the ascending giant branch). The hydrogen envelope becomes convective and this convective zone penetrates deep into the core dredging up material that has been processed by the central nuclear reactions. As a result the abundances of helium and nitrogen are boosted.

→ first; → dredge-up.

The total energy of a → closed system is constant. This means that energy can be changed from one form to another, or transferred from one system to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. A mathematical formulation of the first law is: δQ = δU + δW, where δQ is the heat transferred to the system, δU the change in internal energy (resulting in a rise or fall of temperature), and δW is the work done by the system.

→ first; → law; → thermodynamics.

The first astronomical observation done with a major newly built telescope.

→ first; → light.

One of the two points on the celestial sphere where the ecliptic and the celestial equator crossed one another at → vernal equinox several thousands years ago.

→ first; → point; → Aries.

One of the two points on the celestial sphere where the ecliptic and the celestial equator crossed one another at → autumnal equinox several thousands years ago. Because of → precession, this equinoctial point no longer lies in Libra but in neighboring Virgo.

A → lunar phase that occurs in the middle of the interval between the → new Moon and the → full Moon, when half of the Moon's disk is illuminated. At first quarter, the Moon is situated at 90° east of the Sun.

→ first; → quarter.

A member of the → Population III → massive stars that formed some 500 Myr after the → Big Bang. First stars had a simple chemical composition consisting only of H, He, and traces of ⁷Li and were very short-lived. They are the most likely sources of → reionization of the Universe, which put an end to the → Cosmic Dark Age.

→ first; → star.

A → differential equation containing only the first → derivative. For example, dy/dx = 3x and 2y(dy/dx) + 3x = 5.

→ first; → order; → differential; → equation.

A system of → formal logic that is an extension of → propositional logic. It is also known as → first-order predicate calculus and → predicate logic. FOL eliminates deficiencies of propositional logic by: representing → objects (their properties, relations and statements about them), introducing → variables, and introducing → quantifiers.

→ first; → order; → predicate; → logic.

For a → function with several → variables, the derivative, done only once, with respect to one of the variables. For example ∂u/∂x for u = u(x,y).

→ first; → order; → partial; → derivative.