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

A naturally occurring inorganic solid. The internal crystalline structure of a mineral is controlled by its elemental composition.

From M.L. minerale "something mined," from neuter of mineralis "pertaining to mines," from minera "mine."

Kâni "mineral," from kân "mine," from kandan "to dig" (Mid.Pers. kandan "to dig;" O.Pers. kan- "to dig," akaniya- "it was dug;" Av. kan- "to dig," uskən- "to dig out" (→ ex- for prefix us-); cf. Skt. khan- "to dig," khanati "he digs").

A black hole of mass as low as 10^-6 gram supposed to have formed in the early Universe following the Big Bang event. Same as primordial black hole.

Mini a shortening of → minimum; → black hole.

The least value attained (or attainable) by a function; the opposite of maximum.

From L. minimum "smallest" (thing), neuter of minimus "smallest," superlative of → minor "smaller."

Kaminé, from kamin superlative of kam "little, few; deficient, wanting; scarce" (Mid.Pers. kam "little, small, few," O.Pers./Av. kamna- "small, few." Keh "small, little, slender" (related to kâstan, kâhidan "to decrease, lessen, diminish," from Mid.Pers. kâhitan, kâstan, kâhênitan "to decrease, diminish, lessen;" Av. kasu- "small, little;" Proto-Iranian *kas- "to be small, diminish, lessen") + -é nuance suffix.

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 amount of hydrogen necessary to form a star; more specifically the minimum mass to ignite → hydrogen fusion. → Hydrogen burning will start at a limit of about 0.08 Msun, or 75 → Jupiter masses. Below 0.08 Msun, the core never gets hot enough to trigger → hydrogen fusion. → Protostars less massive than this limit are known as → brown dwarfs or → planets if the mass is less than 13 Jupiter masses. Above 13 Jupiter masses, some minor nuclear reactions (→ deuterium burning) occur that do not provide much energy. The minimum mass for → star formation is a critical parameter with profound astrophysical, cosmological, and even anthropic consequences.

→ minimum; → stellar; → mass.

1) A → quasar of lesser power compared to ordinary quasars hypothesized to exist at early cosmic times. According to some models, the Universe was reionized by a population of miniquasars powered by → intermediate-mass black holes.
2) Same as → microquasar.

Mini a shortening of → minimum; → quasar.

Same as → space-time diagram.

→ Minkowski metric; → diagram.

The → metric that belongs to a four-dimensional → flat manifold and is given by ds² = - dt² + dx² + dy² + dz². Three coordinates represent → space and the fourth coordinate is devoted to → time. The Minkowski metric underlies the → geometry of → special relativity. Compare → Robertson-Walker metric.

In honor of Hermann Minkowski (1864-1909), Russian-born German mathematician, who introduced the concept of the four-dimensional nature of space-time; → metric.

A completely flat four-dimensional space, which contains no gravitating matter, used in the theory of special relativity.

→ Minkowski metric; → space-time.

A peculiar blue object near the → elliptical galaxy NGC 541 in the → galaxy cluster Abell 194. According to several pieces of evidence, the → starburst in Minkowski's object was triggered by the → radio jet emerging from the → nucleus of the nearby → active galaxy NGC 541. This is similar to the jet-induced → star formation associated with → Centaurus A, and the radio-aligned star forming regions in powerful radio galaxies at → high redshift. Absorption and emission line measurements and broadband → SED fitting, give an age of around 7.5 Myr for Minkowski's object.

Minkowski, R., 1958, PASP, 70, 143; → object.

Lesser or smaller in amount, extent, or size.

From L. minor "lesser, smaller, junior," from PIE base *mei- "small" (cf. L. minuere "make small;" Gk. meion "less," minuthein "to lessen;" Skt. miyate "diminishes, declines;" O.E. minsian "to diminish").

Kehin comparative and superlative of keh "small, little, slender" (related to kâstan, kâhidan "to decrease, lessen, diminish," kam "little, few; deficient, wanting; scarce," (Mid.Pers. kam "little, small, few," O.Pers./Av. kamna- "small, few;" from Mid.Pers. kâhitan, kâstan, kâhênitan "to decrease, diminish, lessen;" Av. kasu- "small, little;" Proto-Iranian *kas- "to be small, diminish, lessen") + -é nuance suffix.

The axis of an ellipse that is perpendicular to the major axis at a point equidistant from the foci.

→ minor; → axis.

The → merging in which one of the galaxies is significantly larger than the other (mass ratios above 10). The larger galaxy will often "swallow" the smaller satellite galaxy. The swallowed galaxy can trigger disk and nuclear star formation or activate a central core with shells that surround the predator.

→ minor; → merger.

An obsolete name used to describe an → asteroid.

→ minor; → planet.

Logic: In a → categorical syllogism, the premise containing the → minor term.

→ major; → premisse.

Logic: In a → syllogism, the → subject of the → conclusion.

→ minor; → term.

For a function f defined on the interval I, the point m such that for each x on I, f(x)≥ m. See also → majorant.

From Fr. minorant, from minorer "to reduce, cut," from L. → minor.

Kehân, from kehidan, from keh "small, little," → minor.

The smaller number, part, or quantity of a whole.

→ minor; → -ity.

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)."