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

An angle made by a given vector and a coordinate axis.
The angle between the North and a chosen direction.

→ direct; → angle.

One of the following conditions for a → Fourier series to converge:
1) The function f(x) is defined and single valued, except possibly at a finite number of points in the interval -π, +π.
2) f(x) has a period of 2π.
3) f(x) and f'(x) are → piecewise continuous functions on -π, +π.
Then, the Fourier series converges to:
(a) f(x) if x is a point of continuity.
(b) (f(x + 0) + f(x - 0))/2, if x is a point of discontinuity.

Named after Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (1805-1859), German mathematician who made valuable contributions to → number theory, → analysis, and → mechanics; → condition.

The act of disallocating or the state of being disallocated.

→ dis- + → allocate.

A break in sequence or continuity of anything. → Balmer discontinuity
Math.: A point at which a function is not continuous.
Geology: A surface separating rock layers of differing properties or compositions.

M.L. discontinuitas, from discontinuus, from → dis- + continuus, → continuous.

Nâpeyvastegi, noun from nâpeyvasté "discontinuous," from nâ- "non, un-," → a-, + peyvasté, → continuous.

The rapid, systematic changes in the absorption parts of the → P Cygni profiles of the ultraviolet → resonance lines (Si IV, C IV, and N V) observed in a majority of massive → hot stars. DACs are typically seen to accelerate to the → blue wing of the profile over a few days, becoming narrower as they approach the → terminal velocity.

→ discrete; → absorption; → component.

A transition between two quantum-mechanical energy levels. See also → discrete spectrum.

→ discrete; → transition.

1) An act or instance of discriminating, or of making a distinction.
2) Unfair treatment of a person, racial group, minority, etc; action based on prejudice (Dictionary.com).

Verbal noun of → discriminate.

An act or instance of discussing; → consideration or → examination by → argument, → comment, etc., especially to explore solutions; informal debate (Dictionary.com).

Verbal noun from → discuss.

The breaking up of a body into fragments. For example, that of an unstable nuclei either spontaneously or as a result of bombardment by fast-moving particles, or the breaking up of a comet.

Disintegration, verbal noun of disintegrate, from → dis- + → integration.

Vâpâši, forupâši, from vâ-, frou-→ de- + pâši, noun of pâšidan→ disperse.

A → proposition of the form "A or B" (A ∨ B), where A and B are themselves propositions. A disjunction is → true when one or the other of its components (called → disjuncts) is true, and false otherwise.

→ dis-; → junction.

An accretion process involving an → accretion disk.

→ disk; → accretion.

A logical division of a hard disk that is treated as a separate unit by operating systems and file systems.

→ disk; → partition.

Of a spiral galaxy, those stars that lie in a flattened disk and move in nearly circular orbits around its centre. They are Population I stars of all ages up to the age of the disk, but in general are younger than stars in → halo population.

→ disk; population, from L.L. populationem "a people, multitude," from populatio, from populare "to inhabit," from populus "people," related to plebes "the common people," cf. Gk. plethos "people, multitude, great number," from PIE base *pel- "to be full;" Mod.Pers. por "full," O.Pers. paru- "much, many," Av. pouru- "much, many," pərəna- "full," par- "to fill," Skt. puru-, Gk. polus, O.E. full "completely, full," from P.Gmc. *fullaz, O.H.G. fol, Ger. voll, Goth. full.

Like Gk., Pers. uses the concepts of "multitude, many, full" to denote "people, group, herd, flock". The following examples are all terms derived from O.Pers. paru- "much, many," Av. par- "to fill," pouru- "much, many," pərəna- "full" (Mod.Pers. por "full"): literary Pers. bâré "herd, flock," parré "a rank or file of soldiers, a circular disposition of troops," Lori, Qâyeni bor "group, tribe, herd," Torbat-Heydariyeyi, Qomi borr "heap, bundle, group," Qomi borreh "group, assemblage of people," Pashtu parrak "flock, herd," Urdu para "flock, herd," Lârestâni baila "group, tribe," Tabari balik "herd, flock." With this introduction, porineš "population," verbal noun of porinidan "to populate," infinitive of porin "populous," from por "mutitude, many, full" + -in attribution suffix.

In models of magnetized → accretion disks, the process whereby the disk is disrupted at a radius where the → magnetic pressure overcomes the → ram pressure of the accreted material. This occurs at a distance typically 3-7 stellar radii, below the → corotation radius.

→ disk; → truncation.

1) The resolution of white light into its component wavelengths, either by → refraction or by → diffraction. Dispersion is actually an effect in which radiations having → different wavelengths travel at different speeds in the medium. Since the → angle of refraction of each radiation vary as a function of its → wavelength, the component waves deviate from each other.
2) The rate of change of → refractive index with wavelength: dn/dλ. → Cauchy's equation shows that dispersion varies approximately as the inverse cube of the wavelength.
3) The selective → retardation of → radio waves when they propagate through a → plasma. As a result, higher → frequency waves from a → pulsar will arrive at the Earth before the lower frequencies due to the presence of → intervening → ionized gas in the → interstellar medium. → dispersion measure.
4) Statistics: The spread of values of a → variable around the → mean or → median of a → distribution.

Verbal noun of → disperse.

A graph displaying the variation of the → refractive index of a substance against the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave passing through the substance.

→ dispersion; → curve.

An equation representing the variation of → refractive index as a function of → wavelength; for example → Cauchy's equation and → Sellmeier's equation.

→ dispersion; → equation.

A parameter used in radio astronomy which describes the amount of dispersion in a radio signal due to its passage through an intervening plasma. It is proportional to the product of the interstellar electron density and the distance to the source.

→ dispersion; → measure.

An equation that describes how the → angular frequency, ω, of a wave depends on its → wave number, k. For the simplest of waves, where the speed of propagation, c, is a constant, ω(k) = ck. If the → phase velocity depends on k, that is for a dispersive medium, the function ω(k) is nonlinear.

→ dispersion; → relation.

An act or instance of disqualifying; the state of being disqualified.

→ disqualify; → -tion.