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

The most widely used measure of dispersion of a frequency distribution. It is equal to the positive square root of the → variance. Same as → standard error. Not to be confused with the → root mean square error.

→ standard; → deviation.

A particular date and time that specifies the reference system to which celestial coordinates are referred. From 1984 the → Julian year is used, as denoted by the prefix J, e.g. J2000.0.

→ standard; → epoch.

Same as → standard deviation.

→ standard; → error.

The accepted but possibly incomplete theoretical framework which usually describes a set of phenomena. For example, the model that describes the origin of the Universe, or the model concerned with the processes in the interior of the Sun.

→ standard; → model.

The theory developed since the 1970s, which is based on the theories and discoveries since the 1930s, and aims at explaining the fundamental structure of matter. According to the standard model, everything in the universe is made from a few basic building blocks called fundamental particles, governed by four fundamental forces. The particles occur in two basic types, called quarks and leptons. Three of the four fundamental forces (except gravity) and their carrier particles are included in the Standard Model. The Standard Model has successfully explained almost all experimental results and precisely predicted a wide variety of phenomena. Over time and through many experiments, the Standard Model has become established as a well-tested physics theory.

→ standard; → model; → particle; → physics.

Stars for which accurate color indices and/or magnitudes exist, defining a standard system.

→ standard; → star.

Photometric system used as a reference.

→ standard; → system.

1) The most commonly used definition is temperature of 273.15 K (0 °C) and pressure of 1 → atmosphere.
2) Chemistry: Temperature of 273.15 K (0 °C) and pressure of 10⁵  → pascal (Pa)s (1 → bar). International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) recommends that the former use of the pressure of 1 atm as standard pressure (equivalent to 1.01325 × 10⁵ Pa) should be discontinued.

→ standard; → temperature; → pressure.

The time in any of the 24 internationally agreed time zones into which the Earth's surface is divided. The primary zone is centered on the Greenwich meridian (0° longitude).

→ standard; → time.

Photometric values of selected stars in a standard system.

→ standard; → value.

A wave produced by the simultaneous transmission of two similar wave motions in opposite directions. Same as stationary wave.

Standing verbal adjective from stand, cognate with Pers. istâdan, as below; → wave.

Istân pr.p. of istâdan "to stand;" Mid.Pers. êstâtan; O.Pers./Av. sta- "to stand, stand still; set;" Av. hištaiti; cf. Skt. sthâ- "to stand;" Gk. histemi "put, place, weigh," stasis "a standing still;" L. stare "to stand;" Lith. statau "place;" O.N. standa, Goth. standan, O.H.G. stantan, Swed. stå, Du. staan, Ger. stehen; O.E. standan; PIE base *sta- "to stand;" mowj, → wave.

A huge mass of hot gas whose radiation is provided by its internal → thermonuclear reactions. A star represents a → hydrodynamic equilibrium between two opposing forces, the inward → gravitational force, which is attempting to make the mass collapse and the pressure caused by the generation of nuclear energy. Below a certain mass (0.08 → solar masses), the central pressures and temperatures are insufficient to trigger the → hydrogen fusion (→ brown dwarf). Stars have a variety of masses and sizes. → Massive stars are less common than → low-mass stars (→ initial mass function). → Star formation results from → gravitational collapse of → molecular clouds (→ fragmentation; → pre-stellar core; → protostar; → accretion). After leaving the → main sequence, they pass through several evolutionary stages (e.g., → red giant, → supergiant, → white dwarf, → supernova, → neutron star) depending on their initial masses. See also: → internal structure of stars; → spectral classification; → luminosity class; → variable star; → multiple star. The term star is sometimes loosely applied to objects that do not comply with the above specifications, but are evolutionary products of stars, such as neutron stars and white dwarfs. For ancient civilizations a star was anything appearing in the night sky, apart from perhaps the Moon.

M.E. sterre, O.E. steorra; cf. O.S. sterro, O.N. stjarna, O.Fris. stera, Du. ster, O.H.G. sterro, Ger. Stern, Goth. stairno; cognate with Gk. aster, astron, L. stella (Fr. étoile, Sp. esterella, It. stella), Bret. sterenn, Pers. setâré, as below.

Setâré, variants star, estâr, estâré, and probably axtar, → astro-, (Lori, Laki) âsâra, (Laki) hasâra, (Tabari) essâra, (Baluci) istâr, (Ossetic) st'aly, (i)sthalu, (Tâti) usdurâ; Mid.Pers. stârag, stâr; Av. star-; cf. Skt. stár-, tāra-, tārakā- "star;" akin to Gk. and L., as above; PIE base *ster- "star."

A listing of stars usually ordered by right ascension with observational data elements such as coordinates, magnitude, distance, proper motion, and so on.

→ star; → catalog.

A chart or map showing the relative apparent positions of the stars as viewed from the Earth.

→ star; chart, from M.Fr. charte "card, map," from L. charta "leaf of paper, tablet," from Gk. khartes "layer of papyrus."

Negâré, from negâr "picture, figure," from negâštan→ Pictor; setâregân plural of setâré→ star.

1) A group of stars held together by the mutual → gravitational attraction of its members, which are physically related through common origin. They are of two types: → open clusters and → globular clusters.
2) A → bound stellar agglomeration for which the age of the stars exceeds the → crossing time (Giels & Portegies Zwart, 2010, MNRAS Letters, astro-ph/1010.1720). See also → stellar association

→ star; → cluster.

The number of stars that appear in a given region of sky, usually counted on a photographic plate or CCD image.

→ star; → count.

The relative motion of two groups of stars in the Galaxy moving in opposite directions.

→ star; → drift.

The process by which dense parts of molecular clouds collapse into a ball of plasma to form a star. As a branch of astronomy, star formation includes the study of the interstellar medium and molecular clouds as precursors to the star formation process as well as the study of young stellar objects.

→ star; → formation.

The degree to which stars form in a system, such as a → molecular cloud or a → galaxy. It is given by the ratio of the total mass of stars to the initial gas mass: ε_SFE = M_stars / (M_stars + M_gas).

→ star formation; → efficiency.

The → star formation rate as a function of time.

→ star; → formation; → history.