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

A colorless, odorless, inflammable gas gas of formula CH₄; the simplest hydrocarbon.

From meth- a combining form representing methyl + -ane a suffix used in names of hydrocarbons of the methane or paraffin series.

Alcohol, also known as methyl alcohol, formula CH₃OH, formed in small quantities in the oxidation of methane. → methanol maser.

From → methane + -ol a suffix used in the names of chemical derivatives.

A maser source in which excited methanol molecules (CH₃OH) produce → maser emission. Methanol masers are signposts of the early stages of star formation, many being associated with sources that have not developed an → H II region. There are more than 20 different methanol transitions that have been observed. They are divided into two categories: Class I, excited by collisions, and class II, excited by infrared radiation. The most important class I masers are at a frequency of 44.1 GHz, while he most important class II masers are at a frequency of 6.7 GHz.

→ methanol; → maser.

A manner or mode of procedure, especially an orderly, logical, or systematic way of instruction, inquiry, investigation, experiment, and so on.

From M.Fr. méthode, from L. methodus "way of teaching or going," from Gk. methodus "scientific inquiry, method of inquiry," originally "following after," from → meta- "after" + hodos "way."

Raveš "mthod," originally "going, walking," from row "going," present stem of raftan "to go, walk;" Mid.Pers. raftan, raw-, Proto-Iranian *rab/f- "to go; to attack" + -eš a suffix of verbal nouns.

A method of fitting a curve to data points so as to minimize the sum of the squares of the distances of the points from the curve.

→ method; → least squares.

The linearization of the appropriate equations governing a system by the assumption of a steady state, with departures from that steady state limited to small perturbations. Also called perturbation method.

→ method; → small; → perturbation.

The solution of an equation or by proceeding from an initial approximation to a series of repeated trial solutions, each depending upon the immediately preceding approximation, in such a manner that the discrepancy between the newest estimated solution and the true solution is systematically reduced.

→ method; → successive; → approximation.

→ HD 140283.

Name given to → HD 140283 by the popular press due to its very old age. Methuselah is a biblical patriarch supposed to have lived 969 years (Genesis 5:21-27). The name Methuselah, or the phrase "old as Methuselah," is commonly used to refer to any living thing reaching great age.

A → methane molecule lacking one → hydrogen atom: CH₃. → methyl chloride.

Back formation from Fr. méthylène, → methylene.

A → chemical compound (CH₃Cl), which is the most abundant → organohalogen in the Earth's atmosphere. It has both natural and synthetic origins. Also called chloromethane. Low levels of methyl chloride occur naturally in the environment. Methyl chloride is formed in the oceans by natural processes (e.g., marine phytoplankton) and from biomass burning in grasslands and forested areas (e.g., forest fires); it has been detected at low levels in air all over the world. Other sources of exposure to methyl chloride include cigarette smoke, polystyrene insulation, and aerosol propellants; home burning of wood, coal, or certain plastics. High levels may occur at chemical plants where it is made or used. Acute (short-term) exposure to high concentrations of methyl chloride in humans has caused severe neurological effects. Methyl chloride has also caused effects on the heart rate, blood pressure, liver, and kidneys in humans (United States Environmental Agency, EPA).

→ methyl; → chloride.

The innermost moon of → Jupiter. Also known as Jupiter XVI. It was discovered in 1979 in images taken by Voyager 1. Its mass is about 3.6 × 10¹⁶ kg and its dimensions 60 × 40 × 34 km. Its mean distance from Jupiter is 128 000 km and its → orbital period is 0.29 Earth days, which is faster than Jupiter's rotation period. Metis is one of the → Shepherd moons of Jupiter.

Named in 1983 after the first wife of Zeus.

A time interval lasting 235 → lunations, or about 19 → tropical years (235 = 19 x 12 + 7), after which → lunar phases recur on the same days of the year.

Named after Meton of Athens, a Gk. mathematician, astronomer, geometer, and engineer who used it in 432 B.C., but it was known to the Babylonians by around 500 B.C. and to the Chinese around 600 B.C.; → cycle.

1) A mathematical → expression consisting of an → array of → components which are needed for calculating → infinitesimally small → distances between two → points in some geometrical → space. More simply put, the → function used to define a distance between two points in a → metric space. Also called → distance function.
2) In → general relativity the metric describes the → space-time geometry and gives the interval between two neighboring → events.
3) Pertaining to the meter or to the → metric system.

From → meter + → -ic.

Any of the suffixes adopted by the International System of Units (→ SI units).
For numbers larger than 1: → deca- (10¹), → hecto- (10²), → kilo- (10³), → mega- (10⁶), → giga- (10⁹), → tera- (10¹²), → peta- (10¹⁵), → exa- (10¹⁸), → zetta- (10²¹), and → yotta- (10²⁴) .
For numbers smaller than 1: → deci- (10^-1), → centi- (10^-2), → milli- (10^-3), → micro- (10^-6), → nano- (10^-9), → pico- (10^-12), → femto- (10^-15), → atto- (10^-18), → zepto- (10^-21), and → yocto- (10^-24).

→ metric; → prefix.

An set of points such that the distance between every pair of points is defined by a → distance function with the following properties: 1) the distance from the first point to the second equals zero if and only if the points are the same, 2) the distance from the first point to the second equals the distance from the second to the first, and 3) the sum of the distance from the first point to the second and the distance from the second point to a third exceeds or equals the distance from the first to the third.
In mathematical language, the properties, for a nonempty set X, can be expressed as:
1) d(x,y)≥ 0 and d(x,y) = 0 if and only if x = y.
2) d(x, y) = d(y,x) for all x, y ∈ X.
3) d(x,z)≤ d(x,y) + d(y,z) for all x, y, and z ∈ X. Also called → triangle inequality.

→ metric; → space.

A standard system of measurement using decimal units, in which the units of length, time, and mass are meter, second, and kilogram respectively.

→ metric; → system.

The abstract tensor operation which is computed in a particular → reference frame using the → metric components. The metric tensor defines magnitude and direction of vectors about a point.

→ metric; → tensor.

A physical → measurement unit in the → metric system.

→ metric; → unit.

The science of measurement, embracing both experimental and theoretical determinations at any level of uncertainty in any field of science and technology.

From metro-, a combining form meaning "measure," → meter, + → -logy.

Andâze-šenâsi, from andâzé, → measure, + -šenâsi, → -logy.

Mega (million) → electron volt. A unit of → energy used to describe the total energy carried by a → particle or → photon.

→ mega- + → electron volt.