30 Terms
Home > Industry/Domain > Astronomy > General astronomy
General astronomy
Industry: Astronomy
Add a new termContributors in General astronomy
General astronomy
open universe
Astronomy; General astronomy
a universe with too little matter (gravity) to stop the expansion (it has an ``open future'').
ozone
Astronomy; General astronomy
a type of oxygen molecule made of three oxygen atoms bound together (O3). This molecule absorbs ultraviolet light.
paradigm
Astronomy; General astronomy
a general agreement of belief of how the world works; what could be called ``common sense''.
parallax
Astronomy; General astronomy
an apparent shifting of an object's position resulting from observing the object from two different vantage points. Stellar parallaxes are seen when we view nearby stars from opposite sides of the ...
parsec
Astronomy; General astronomy
(pc): distance at which an object would have a parallax of one arc second. Equals approximately 3.26 light years or about 206,265 astronomical units.
penumbra
Astronomy; General astronomy
region of partial shadow that is outside the umbra; the light source is partially blocked.
perfect cosmological principle
Astronomy; General astronomy
an assumption that the universe is everywhere uniform and looks the same in any direction in all space and time---it is the same everywhere and does not change throughout time.
