General astronomy

General astronomy

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General astronomy

climate

Astronomy; General astronomy

long-term average of weather (usually 30 years or longer for Earth climate). Can change only on long time scales of decades or more.

closed universe

Astronomy; General astronomy

a universe with enough matter (gravity) to eventually stop the expansion and recollapse (it has a "closed future").

color-magnitude diagram

Astronomy; General astronomy

a plot of the colors (temperatures) and magnitudes of stars. Another name for the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.

coma

Astronomy; General astronomy

(comet): large atmosphere around a comet's nucleus that forms when the nucleus nears the Sun and warms up (usually at around Saturn's or Uranus' distance from the Sun).

conservation of angular momentum

Astronomy; General astronomy

when an object or system of objects has no net outside forces acting on it, the total amount of its angular momentum does not change.

continuous spectrum

Astronomy; General astronomy

a spectrum that has energy at all wavelengths (a full rainbow). See also thermal spectrum.

convection

Astronomy; General astronomy

means of energy transport through the bulk motion of a fluid. Warmer fluid is less dense and rises upward releasing its excess energy to the cooler environment and cool, higher density fluid sinks.