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

In solar calendars the year that contains 366 days, instead of 365, in order to keep the calendar in pace with the real solar time.

→ leap; → year.

The three criteria that identify → leap years in the → Gregorian calendar: 1) The year must be evenly divisible by 4; 2) If the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is not a leap year, unless; 3) The year is also evenly divisible by 400. This means that in the Gregorian calendar, the years 1600, 2000, and 2400 are leap years, while 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500 are not leap years.

→ leap; → year; → rule.

Smallest in size, amount, degree, etc.

From M.E. leest(e), O.E. læst, læsest "smallest" (superlative of læs "smaller, less").

Kucaktarin, kamtarin, superlatives of kucak and kam, → small.

Of two or more → integers, the smallest positive number that is divisible by those integers without a remainder.

→ least; → common; → multiplier.

Any statistical procedure that involves minimizing the sum of squared differences.

→ least; → square.

A → cross correlation technique for computing average profiles from thousands of → spectral lines simultaneously. The technique, first introduced by Donati et al. (1997, MNRAS 291,658), is based on several assumptions: additive → line profiles, wavelength independent → limb darkening, self-similar local profile shape, and weak → magnetic fields. Thus, unpolarized/polarized stellar spectra can indeed be seen as a line pattern → convolved with an average line profile. In this context, extracting this average line profile amounts to a linear → deconvolution problem. The method treats it as a matrix problem and look for the → least squares solution. In practice, LSD is very similar to most other cross-correlation techniques, though slightly more sophisticated in the sense that it cleans the cross-correlation profile from the autocorrelation profile of the line pattern. The technique is used to investigate the physical processes that take place in stellar atmospheres and that affect all spectral line profiles in a similar way. This includes the study of line profile variations (LPV) caused by orbital motion of the star and/or stellar surface inhomogeneities, for example. However, its widest application nowadays is the detection of weak magnetic fields in stars over the entire → H-R diagram based on → Stokes parameter V (→ circular polarization) observations (see also Tkachenko et al., 2013, A&A 560, A37 and references therein).

→ least; → square; → deconvolution.

A fit through data points using least squares.

→ least squares; → fit.

1a) Go away from.
1b) To let remain or have remaining behind after going, disappearing, ceasing, etc.
2a) Permission to be absent, as from work or military duty.
2b) The time this permission lasts (Dictionary.com).

M.E. leven, from O.E. laefan "to allow to remain in the same state or condition" (cf. O.Saxon farlebid "left over;" Ger. bleiben "to remain") ultimately from PIE *leip- "to stick, adhere;" also "fat," from which the cognates: Gk. lipos "fat;" O.E. lifer "liver," → life.

Parižidan, on the model of Sariqoli barēzj "leavings;" Yaghnobi piraxs- "to stay behind, remain;" ultimately from Proto-Ir. *apa-raic-, from *raic- "to abandon, leave;" cf. Av. raēc- "to leave, let" (Cheung 2006), → heritage.

Same as the → period-luminosity relation.

Named after Henrietta Swan Leavitt (1868-1921), American woman astronomer, who discovered the relation between the luminosity and the period of → Cepheid variables (1912); → law.

A → primary cell in which the anode is a rod of carbon and the cathode a zinc rod both immersed in an electrolyte of ammonia plus a depolarizer.

Named after the inventor Georges Leclanché (1839-1882), a French chemist, → cell.

1) The ninth of Jupiter's known satellites and the smallest. It is 16 km in diameter and has its orbit at 11 million km from its planet. Also called Jupiter XIII, it was discovered by Charles Kowal (1940-), an American astronomer, in 1974.
2) An asteroid, 38 Leda, discovered by J. Chacornac in 1856.

In Gk. mythology, Leda was queen of Sparta and the mother, by Zeus in the form of a swan, of Pollux and Helen of Troy.

An improvement of → Schwarzschild's criterion for convective instability, which includes effects of chemical composition of the gas. In the Ledoux criterion the gradient due to different molecular weights is added to the adiabatic temperature gradient.

After the Belgian astrophysicist Paul Ledoux (1914-1988), who studied problems of stellar stability and variable stars. He was awarded the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1972 (Ledoux et al. 1961 ApJ 133, 184); → criterion.

Of, pertaining to, or located on or toward the west when somebody or something is facing north. Opposite of → right.

M.E. left, lift, luft, O.E. left, lyft- "weak, idle," cf. Ger. link, Du. linker "left," from O.H.G. slinc, M.Du. slink "left," Swed. linka "limp," slinka "dangle."

Cap "left," from unknown origin.

See → Fleming's rules.

→ left; → hand; → rule.

Using the left hand with greater ease than the right.

→ left; → hand + -ed.

Capâl, from cap, → left, + -al, → -al. Capdast, with dast, → hand.

1) The part of the body from the top of the → thigh down to the → foot.
2) Anatomy: The lower limb of a human being between the → knee and the → ankle.

M.E., from O.Norse leggr; cognate with Dan. læg, Swed. läg "the calf of the leg."

Leng, related to Mid.Pers. zang "shank, ankle;" Av. zanga-, zənga- "bone of the leg; ankle bone; ankle;" Skt. jánghā- "lower leg;" maybe somehow related to E. → shank.

1) Permitted by law; lawful.
2) Of or relating to law; connected with the law or its administration (Dictionary.com).

From M.Fr. légal or directly from L. legalis "legal, pertaining to the law," from lex (genitive legis) "law."

Qânuni, of or relating to qânun, → law.

1) A non-historical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical.
2) The body of stories of this kind, especially as they relate to a particular people, group, or clan (Dictionary.com).

M.E. legende "written account of a saint's life," from O.Fr. legende and directly from M.L. legenda literally, "(things) to be read," noun use of feminine of L. legendus, gerund of legere "to read" (on certain days in church).

Cirok, from Kurd. cirok "story, fable," related to Kurd. cir-, cirin "to sing, [to recite?];" Av. kar- "to celebrate, praise;" Proto-Ir. *karH- "to praise, celebrate;" cf. Skt. kar- "to celebrate, praise;" O.Norse herma "report;" O.Prussian kirdit "to hear;" PIE *kerH₂- "to celebrate" (Cheung 2007).

Of, relating to, or of the nature of a legend.

→ legend; → -ary.

The → differential equation of the form: d/dx(1 - x²)dy/dx) + n(n + 1)y = 0. The general solution of the Legendre equation is given by y = c₁P_n(x) + c₂Q_n(x), where P_n(x) are Legendre polynomials and Q_n(x) are called Legendre functions of the second kind.

Named after Adrien-Marie Legendre (1752-1833), a French mathematician who made important contributions to statistics, number theory, abstract algebra, and mathematical analysis; → equation.