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

The brightest star in the constellation → Taurus (visual magnitude about 0.9), Aldebaran is an orange K-type giant that lies 60 → light-years away. It has a faint M2 V companion. It is slowly and irregularly variable.

Ar. Aldebaran "the follower" (of the Pleiades, which rise shortly before it does), from al "the" + dabaran "follower," from dobur "to follow". Gâvcašm "the bull's eye," from Mod.Pers. Gâv "bull, cow" + cašm "eye," corresponding to the alternative Ar. name of the star Ayno 's Sowr.

Any of a class of organic compounds containing the -CH=O group, that is a double-bonded oxygen and hydrogen bonded to the same terminal carbon atom.

From N.L. al(cohol) dehyd(rogenatum) "alcohol deprived of hydrogen."

The brightest star in → Cepheus and a → subgiant star of apparent visual magnitude 2.44. Its → spectral type is A7 and distance 49 → light-years.

Alderamin, from Ar. al dhirâ' al-yamin "right arm" (of Cepheus), from Ar. dhirâ' "arm" + yamin "right".

Zerâ'-e Yamin, from Ar. al dhira al-yamin.

1) The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet (ℵ).
2) A → cardinal number representing an uncountable set. For example, ℵ₀ (pronounced aleph-null, aleph-nought, or aleph-zero) is the smallest infinite cardinal and ℵ₁ is the smallest cadinal larger than ℵ₀.

Hebrew and Phoenician letter, from Semitic languages.

A dark space or band between the primary and secondary rainbows when both are visible. This effect is due to the minimum refraction angle for the → primary rainbow and the maximum for the → secondary rainbow. The only light in the dark region is caused by (a small amount of) scattering, and not the refraction of light in water droplets.

Named for Alexander of Aphrodisias, Greek Peripatetic philosopher and commentator, who first described the effect in 200 AD.

A set of tables created in Toledo, under Alfonso X, el sabio, king of Castile and Léon (1252 to 1284) to correct the anomalies in the → Toledan Tables. The starting point of the Alfonsine Tables is January 1, 1252, the year of king's coronation (1 June). The original Spanish version of the tables is lost, but a set of canons (introductory instructions) for planetary tables are extant. They are written by Isaac ben Sid and Judah ben Moses ha-Cohen, two of the most active collaborators of Alfonso X. The Alfonsine Tables were the most widely used astronomical tables in the Middle Ages and had an enormous impact on the development of European astronomy from the 13th to 16th century. They were replaced by Erasmus Reinhold's → Prutenic Tables, based on Copernican models, that were first published in 1551.The Latin version of the Alfonsine Tables first appeared in Paris around 1320, where a revision was undertaken by John of Lignères and John of Murs, accompanied by a number of canons for their use written by John of Saxony. There is a controversy as to the exact relationship of these tables with the work commissioned by the Spanish king.

After the Spanish monarch Alfonso X (1221-1284); → table.

The ratio of the flow velocity to the → Alfvén speed in a medium.

→ Alfvén wave; → number.

1) In theories of magnetized → accretion disks, the distance from a non-rotating star where the → free fall of a spherical accretion flow is stopped, which occurs where the → ram pressure of the infalling matter equals the → magnetic pressure of the star.
2) The distance from an accreting or wind-blowing star where the → Alfvén Mach number of the flow (→ inflow or → outflow) is unity.

→ Alfvén wave; → radius.

The speed at which → Alfven waves are propagated along the magnetic field. It is a characteristic velocity at which perturbations of the lines of force travel. Alfvén speed is given by: v_A = B/(μ₀.ρ)^1/2, where B is the → magnetic field strength, μ₀ is the → magnetic permeability, and ρ is the density of the plasma. Alfvén speed plays a role analogous to the sound speed in non-magnetized fluid dynamics. Same as Alfvén velocity.

→ Alfvén wave; → speed.

A → magnetohydrodynamic wave in a → magnetized plasma, arising as a result of restoring forces associated with the magnetic field. It is a → transverse wave which propagates in the direction of the magnetic field. Also called magnetohydrodynamic wave.

Named after Hannes Alfvén (1908-1995), Swedish physicist, who developed the theory of → magnetohydrodynamics, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1970; → wave.

Involving → Alfvén waves.

→ Alfvénic; → -ity.

Large amplitude fluctuations in the → solar wind with properties resembling those of → Alfvén waves. A fluctuation is said to be Alfvénic if the following relationship between the velocity fluctuations (Δv) and magnetic field fluctuations (ΔB) is satisfied: Δv = ± ΔB/(μ₀ρ)^1/2. Also called Alfvénicity.

→ Alfvénic; → fluctuation.

→ Alfvénic fluctuation.

→ Alfvénic; → -ity.

The ratio of the flow velocity to the → Alfvén speed in a medium.

→ Alfvén wave; → number.

In magnetized disk models, the point where the → poloidal velocity equals the → Alfven speed. Within this point, the magnetic energy density dominates, and the gas is forced to flow along the field lines. Well beyond this point, the kinetic energy acquired by the flowing gas prevails and the field is forced to follow the flow.

→ Alfven wave; → point.

1) In theories of magnetized → accretion disks, the distance from a non-rotating star where the → free fall of a spherical accretion flow is stopped, which occurs where the → ram pressure of the infalling matter equals the → magnetic pressure of the star.
2) More generally, the distance from an accreting or wind-blowing star where the → Alfvén Mach number of the flow (→ inflow or → outflow) is unity.

→ Alfvén wave; → radius.

The speed at which → Alfven waves are propagated along the magnetic field. It is a characteristic velocity at which perturbations of the lines of force travel. Alfvén speed is given by: v_A = B/(μ₀.ρ)^1/2, where B is the → magnetic field strength, μ₀ is the → magnetic permeability, and ρ is the density of the plasma. Alfvén speed plays a role analogous to the sound speed in non-magnetized fluid dynamics. Same as Alfvén velocity.

→ Alfvén wave; → speed.

In a magnetized wind, the geometric loci of the points where the magnetic pressure equals the flow pressure. See also → Alfven point.

→ Alfven wave; → surface.

same as → Alfven speed.

→ Alfven wave; → velocity.

A → magnetohydrodynamic wave in a → magnetized plasma, arising as a result of restoring forces associated with the magnetic field. It is a → transverse wave which propagates in the direction of the magnetic field. Also called magnetohydrodynamic wave.

Named after Hannes Alfvén (1908-1995), Swedish physicist, who developed the theory of → magnetohydrodynamics, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1970; → wave.