Questions tagged [terminology]
Questions regarding specific terms, names, or naming conventions.
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Is there an antonym for 'transit', i.e. the transit of a celestial body through the meridian
I'm writing software to calculate the rising, transit, and setting of a body on the celestial sphere for a specific location and date. It seems to me that the opposite of transit, at least in the case ...
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What exactly are "H30α and He30α images"? (ALMA)
I ran across this paper's title η Carinae: high angular resolution continuum, H30α and He30α ALMA images (arXiv) and see that the body of the paper also mentions "H40α, H30α and H29α".
What ...
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Is lithium considered a metal in astronomy?
My lecture notes are conflicting on this issue so I seek definitive clarification. In Astronomy, are metals either
A: the elements which form within stars (i.e., not Big Bang nucleosynthesis, where ...
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Can a pulsar also be a magnetar?
I know this is a simplistic question, but I cannot find a straight answer...
Also, is it possible most or all neutron stars are magnetars and/or pulsars? It's just hard to see all of their properties ...
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What do the words "p-type" and "s-type" mean?
As explained in various sources (such as that answer), a planet in an s-type orbit orbits one of the stars of a binary star system, whereas a planet in a p-type orbit orbits both stars. A synonym for ...
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Clarification of radio spectrum terminology
For a radio spectrum, when is it called thermal emission, synchrotron emission, self-absorbed synchrotron emission and inverted spectrum? They are all power-law and their difference is power-law index?...
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What does "additive fringing from the (multiplicative) twilights" mean?
The question How can I make the fringing pattern visible in my flat (twilight) images for filter i? includes:
I have a bunch of twilight flats that have been preprocessed (dark, bias, overscan etc.)...
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Why is the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (WFIRST) coronagraph considered "(beyond-)state-of-the-art"?
After about 01:30 in the NASA video NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: Broadening Our Cosmic Horizons the narrator says:
To deepen its study of exoplanets ...
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When was Hubble tension first noticed? When was this term first used?
When was Hubble tension first noticed? When was this term first used? Who used this term for the first time?
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Why are helium resonance lines called "resonance lines"?
Examples of the use of the term:
Formation of the helium extreme-UV resonance lines
On the Formation of the Resonance Lines of Helium in the Sun (unpaywalled)
Formation of the helium EUV resonance ...
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Do Astronomers really never call Lagrangian points "libration points"?
In this answer to Who called the Lagrangian points as “Libration” points and and why was the terminology “Libration” used? I described my feeling that Lagrangian points were also sometimes called &...
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Astronomical Term *Mezzocielo*
What is the name of the point of intersection of the great circle passing through the celestial north pole P and the Zenith Z, with the celestial equator? (Point T in the figure)
In Italian this point ...
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What exactly is a "conclusive association" in Astronomy?
Phys.org's Astronomers use slime mold model to reveal dark threads of the cosmic web says
A computational approach inspired by the growth patterns of a bright yellow slime mold has enabled a team of ...
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What is the opposite of the vernal point?
The equator and the ecliptic cross at two nodes. One of those nodes is the vernal point. What is the other one called?
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Is there a distinction between NEOs and near-Earth asteroids? Is there a difference?
My "real question" is in Space Exploration Meta (neo (near-earth-object) and near-earth-asteroid tags, do we need both?), but I think that astronomers will be able to help understand the situation and ...
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When we say a variable star is "fainting" does it mean something more or different than "dimming" or "fading"?
A comment below the question Does the current “fainting” of Betelgeuse show any spectral trends that differ from it's normal variability? suggests that "dimming" would be a better term, but I have a ...
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Is there a general term used to identify the high flat features within Noctis Labyrinthus on Mars?
At the western end of Valles Marineris, where it mets Noctis Labyrinthus (highlighted section of image)
there are a series of flat geological formations between the canyons.
Is there a unique term ...
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What are other names for planetoids that aren't orbiting a solar system, but hurtling through space?
I'm trying to think of a good word for an asteroid/planetoid that has no stable orbit but has been ejected from a system and is passing close to a sun. Any help?
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What do you call it when a satellite goes once around its planet?
When a planet or a satellite turns around itself, its called a rotation. When a planet goes once around the Sun, it's called a revolution. What do you call it when a satellite goes once around its ...
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What is an "Off Rowland-circle Telescope"? Are there "On Rowland-circle Telescope" as well?
The NASA Goddard news item NASA to Demonstrate New Star-Watching Technology with Thousands of Tiny Shutters says:
The technology, called the Next-Generation Microshutter Array (NGMSA), will fly for ...
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Is intrastellar commonly used by astronomers to refer to objects within our solar system?
The CNET article Interstellar comet Borisov looks ordinary, making Oumuamua even weirder says:
A paper published Monday in Nature Astronomy lays out the early data on Borisov, which is just the ...
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Does astro means space or stars [closed]
In the popular TV show The Big Bang Theory Season 3, Episode 4, Sheldon Cooper said that astro means star and Raj said astro means space, I got a little confused here, various websites and others are ...
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Origins and most frequently used; perinigricon vs peribothron?
Gizmodo.com's Astronomers Spot Unprecedented Flashes From Our Galaxy's Black Hole mentions Sgr A*'s companion gas cloud G2 and that Wikipedia article uses the term perinigricon, but that mentions ...
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Sorting out Julian Day, Julian Date, Julian Day number, Julian Day Calendar, and Julian Day Table
In this answer I mention day number which is 1 on the first day of each calendar year (January 1) and increments to 365 or 366 on December 31 of that year.
There was an edit proposed, which included ...
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Word for blue ring around the Earth
From certain positions in outer space the Earth will appear to have a blue ring around it when the viewer is in the shadow of the Earth and sunlight is passing through the atmosphere.
Here is a ...
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Is there a term for asteroseismology as applied to giant planets?
Giant planets such as Jupiter have oscillations which enable analyses using the techniques of asteroseismology, for example Gaulme et al. (2011) detected global modes on Jupiter via radial velocity ...
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What is the name of meteoroids which hit Moon, Mars, or pretty much anything that isn’t the Earth?
A meteorite according to the Oxford English Dictionary is
A piece of rock or metal that has fallen to the earth's surface from outer space as a meteor.
But, meteors impact other planets. Are they ...
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Are there recommendations to use "Hubble-Lemaître constant" instead of "Hubble constant"?
The IAU recommends renaming the Hubble law as the Hubble-Lemaître law, as discussed at its General Assembly in 2018 (see this press release and the links therein).
I have now stumbled upon an ...
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Adjective for things outside our solar system
I know we have "exoplanets" etc. but those are nouns for specific objects outside our solar system.
We have extraterrestrial for objects outside Earth's atmosphere, but I don't know if we have a ...
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What (the heck) is a Super Worm Equinox Moon?
Google News feed shows me the following.
What does the term "Super Worm Equinox Moon" mean and has it ever been used before this 2019 clickbait instance?
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Terminology for empty space at the edge of the observable universe?
Is there a name for a point at the edge of the observable universe at which there is no visible matter, that appears completely dark?
I'm thinking something like "empty space", but that could equally ...
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What's the reason that we have a different number of days each month?
It always was interesting for me to understand the answer for the question:
What's the reason that we have a different number of days each month?
If the month is fixed on the time that the moon ...
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Does the KBO 2014-MU69 have two numbers and entries in asteroid databases? How did it get promoted to Major Body designation?
In this answer I show that the (now pretty famous) Kuiper Belt Object 2014-MU69 has two entries in JPL's ephemeris generating Horizons site; Major Body ...
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Does astronomical observing "count" as remote sensing?
I have long considered astronomical observing as a form of remote sensing, though quite different than typical remote sensing in that many objects observed are not resolved.
I am wondering, though, ...
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Logarithmic scale for large distances?
I understand this is an icky subject, but I recently got interested in units for large distances for applications in cosmology and what not (after hearing about the redefinition of the kilo and kelvin)...
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Terminology question: gas giant vs gas planet
While not exactly the most exciting question, I'm wondering: is there any real, semantic difference between a gas planet and gas giant, or are the two terms used interchangeably by most in popular ...
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What exactly are the "ν6 secular Sun-Jupiter-Saturn" and the "1:4 Sun-Jupiter" resonances?
In the recent Acta Astronautica article The edge of space: Revisiting the Karman Line, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics astronomer, Space SE contributor and "inverse namesake" of asteroid (...
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Do astronomers have an established, systematic way for saying what does or doesn't orbit what? (e.g. "Mars orbits Earth")
A recent comment
An object far enough away can certainly orbit the Moon and the Earth (and the Sun) -- Mars, for instance does this. An object in the Earth-Moon L2 is also orbiting both the Earth ...
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How does an eclipse differ from an occultation?
A comment in response to this question suggests that an eclipse differs from an occultation in that the former casts a shadow while the latter doesn't.
This isn't particularly satisfactory since ...
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Are asteroid complexes and types the same?
Very novice astronomer here. I keep seeing terms like "S-Complex" thrown around when talking about asteroids, but no matter how much Googling I do I can't figure out what that exactly means (every ...
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Terminology of Orbits
A hopefully simple terminology question: When you have an object that orbits another object in space, what do you call the object being orbited in relation to the object orbiting?
For instance, you ...
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What are the "lines" in a constellation or asterism called?
Is there a technical term for the "lines" in a constellation or asterism? Alternatively, is there an astronomy related coloquialism or any informal term that refers specifically to these lines, and ...
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WMAP beam profile
What do people mean by the "beam" profile/model pertaining to
WMAP?
Search results are all rather packed with jargon. Is there a pictorial /layman explanation of it and how does it affect the data?
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Finding the number of stars n light-years from the sun
The nearby stars seem homogenously spaced out enough to give a general "stellar density."
Does there exist some kind of mathematical expression that can determine the number of stars n light-years ...
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Is there a term for a horizontal moon crescent
I seen the other day the moon lit directly below or towards my horizon perfectly.
My question, is there a term for when a moon's crescent is aligned with the viewer's horizon?
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Term for the moment when hydrogen fusion begins in a star
I have read of this process many times, but I don't think I know the term specifically for the moment when hydrogen fusion begins. What is this moment called?
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What is "superficial gravity"
I have seen the term superficial gravity used and it seems to be equivalent to surface gravity
seen, e.g., here http://arxiv.org/pdf/1701.02295
Is there any difference between superficial and ...
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Usage of $\sim$, $\approx$, $\simeq$, and $\cong$ in observational astronomy?
My understanding is $\sim$ generally means "on the order of magnitude of" e.g. $T \sim 10^5$ K
$\approx$ is obviously "approximately equal to" so for example one might write $d \approx 400$ pc rather ...
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So, what exactly is an 'ultra-cool' dwarf star?
The TRAPPIST-1 system is around an ultra-cool dwarf star. I went looking for more information on that kind of star, and found very little. The Wikipedia article on it lengthened from a minimal stub to ...
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Do astronomers generally agree that the distinction between comets and asteroids is not so clear?
edit: I just saw this tweet and find it incredibly relevant :)
begin question: See this answer and then consider if there are known or likely solar system bodies that might be identified as both ...
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