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

Same as → angle of minimum deviation.

→ minimum; → deviation.

The minimum distance between the paths of two orbiting objects around a → primary. Such distance between an object and Earth is called Earth MOID.

→ minimum; → orbit; → intersection; → distance.

The faintest and the westernmost of the three stars which appear in a row and make up the → Orion's Belt. It is a blue star of magnitude 2.23 lying 915 light-years away. Mintaka is in fact an → eclipsing binary with a period of 5.7 days. The main star has a → spectral type of O9.5 and radiates near 90,000 times the → solar luminosity. Mintaka is remarkable as regards the discovery of the → interstellar medium. The ISM was discovered by the German astronomer Johannes Hartmann (1855-1936) through the study of δ Orionis. He remarked that the calcium line at 3934 Å did not share in the periodic displacements of the lines caused by the orbital motion of the star. This suggested that the calcium line was not from the stars but from an intervening interstellar absorbing cloud.

Mintaka, from al-Mintaqah "the belt," from al-Mintaqah al-Jauzâ' (المنطقه‌الجوزاء) "the belt of the central one (Orion)."

An operation designed to carry out the goals of a specific program, such as a a space flight or voyage.

Mission, from L. missionem (nominative missio) "act of sending," from mittere "to send," of unknown origin.

Gosilân, from gosil, variant gosi "sending away, dismission;" Mid.Pers. wisé "to despatch" (Parthian Mid.Pers. wsys- "to despatch;" Buddhist Mid.Pers. wsydy "to despatch;" Sogdian 'ns'yd- "to exhort"), from Proto-Iranian *vi-sid- "to despatch, send off," from prefix vi- "apart, away, out," + *sid- "to call" + -ân nuance suffix.

1) (adj.) Assisting or intended to assist the → memory.
2) (adj.) Pertaining to → mnemonics or to memory.
3) (n.) Something intended to assist the memory, as a verse or formula. For example, "Oh, Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me Right Now Sweetheart!" is a mnemonic for the sequence of stellar → spectral types.

From Gk. mnemonikos "of or pertaining to memory," from mnemon "remembering, mindful," from mnasthai "remember," from PIE base *men- "to think;" cf. Pers. man-, -mân, minu, → idea.

Yâdsepâr, stem of Yâdsepârdan "memorize," from yâd "remembrance, recollection, memory" (Mid.Pers. ayâd) + sepârdan, sepor- "to yield, give, hand over" (Mid.Pers. abespâr- "to hand over, entrust;" cf. O.N. spara, O.H.G. sparon, O.E. sparian, E. spare); yâdsepârik, → mnemonics.

Something capable of assisting one's memory. The process or technique of improving the memory.

→ mnemonic; → -ics.

1) The act of modernizing; the state of being modernized; something modernized.
2) A pattern of social and economic change initiated in the 17th century in Western Europe and subsequently extended to many other parts of the world. Its characteristics include secularization, rationalization in political and economic life, industrialization, urbanization, and increased level of popular involvement in public affairs.

Verbal noun of → modernize; → -tion.

An act or instance of modifying; the state of being modified; partial alteration.

Verbal noun of → modify.

A modification of the Newton's law of gravitation below a critical acceleration of about 1.2 x 10^-8 cm s^-2, where the gravitational force scales as 1/r instead of 1/r². Originally put forward to describe the rotation curves of galaxies with no need to assume any dark matter, MOND is now tested at larger cosmological scales (Milgrom, M. 1983, ApJ, 270, 365).

→ modify; → Newtonian dynamics.

General: The modification of some property of a phenomenon by another distinct phenomenon.
Physics: Variation of some characteristic (amplitude, phase, or frequency) of a radio wave, called the carrier wave, in accordance with instantaneous values of another wave, called the modulating wave. → amplitude modulation; → frequency modulation.
Optics: A synonym for contrast, particularly when applied to a series of parallel lines and spaces imaged by a lens.

Verbal noun of → modulate.

A measure of the ability of an optical system to reproduce (transfer) various levels of detail from the object to the image, as shown by the degree of contrast (modulation) in the image. → optical transfer function.

→ modulation; → transfer; → function.

Of a gas included in the composition of a → gas mixture, the ratio of the number of moles of this gas to the total number of moles of all the gases in the mixture. Same as mole fraction and mole-fraction concentration.

→ molar; → concentration.

The amount of heat energy required to vaporize 1 mole of a liquid at its → boiling point, usually expressed in kJ/mol.

→ molar; → heat; → vaporization.

A mixing process in a → fluid caused by the → random relative motions due to → Brownian motion of the individual particles. See also → eddy diffusion.

→ molecular; → diffusion.

An → electromagnetic radiation emitted by → interstellar molecules through → transitions between → energy states of → molecules.

→ molecular; → emission.

In → propositional logic, a → sentence containing at least one → connectives. See also → atomic proposition.

→ atomic; → proposition.

The dynamical motion of chemically bound atoms which constantly change their position with each other. The vibration of molecules is treated within → quantum theory. Therefore, the energy of molecular vibration can only take → discrete values. To a first approximation, molecular vibrations can be approximated as → simple harmonic oscillator assigned to each mode.

→ molecular; → vibration.

1) Philo.: The doctrine that reality consists of an unchanging whole in which change is mere illusion. → pluralism.
2) Philo.: The doctrine that the person consists of only a single substance, or that there is no crucial difference between mental and physical events or properties.
3) The attempt to explain anything in terms of one principle only. → dualism, → materalism, → idealism (Dictionary.com).

→ mono-; → -ism.

1) (v.) To watch closely or evaluate something on a constant or regular basis.
To oversee, supervise, or regulate.
2) (n.) A video device that displays data or images generated by a computer or terminal.

From L. monitor "one who reminds, admonishes, or checks," from monere "to remind, warn, advise," related to memini "I remember, I am mindful of," mens "mind," from PIE base *men- "to think;" Pers. cognates under → idea.

Pahregar "watch, guard," agent noun from pahré (Dehxodâ) "watch, guarding," from Mid.Pers. pahr, pahrag "guard;" Av. pāθra.vant "guard, watchman," from *pāθra-, from Av. pā- "to protect," pāti "guards," nipā(y)- (with → ni-) "to watch, observe, guard," nipātar- "protector, watcher," nipāθri- "protectress;" cf. Skt. pā- "to protect, keep," tanû.pā- "protecting the body," paś.pā- "shepherd;" Gk. poma "lid, cover," poimen "shepherd;" L. pascere "to put out to graze," pastor "shepherd;" Lith. piemuo "shepherd;" PIE base *pā- "to protect, feed."
Pahridan verb from pahr, as above.

1) A combining form meaning "alone, single, one," as in monochromatic, Monoceros, monotonic.
2) In chemistry applied to compounds containing one atom of a particular element (monohydrate).

From Gk. mono-, from monos "single, alone," from PIE base *men- "small, isolated," also represented by Gk. manos "rare, sparse."

Tak "single, alone", from Mid.Pers. tak "single, alone," maybe related to tâk, tâi "unit, piece."
Yek "one, alone," from Mid.Pers. êwak (Proto-Iranian *aiua-ka-); O.Pers. aiva- "one, alone;" Av. aēuua- "one, alone;" cf. Skt. éka- "one, alone, single; " Gk. oios "alone, lonely;" L. unus "one;" Ger. ein; E. one.
Yektâ-, from yek, as above, + tâ "fold, plait, ply; piece, part," also a multiplicative suffix; Mid.Pers. tâg "piece, part."
Mono-, loan from Gk., as above.