General astronomy

General astronomy

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General astronomy

Apollo asteroid

Astronomy; General astronomy

One of a small group of asteroids whose orbits intersect that of Earth. They are named for the prototype, Apollo.

A nuclear reaction (3 4He → 12C + γ + 7 MeV) by which helium is transformed into carbon. The process is dominant in red giants. At a temperature of about 2 × 108 K and a density of 105 g cm-3, after ...

3-kpc arm

Astronomy; General astronomy

A component of the Sagittarius arm with noncircular gas motions. It is seen in absorption against Sgr A with a velocity of -53 km s-1, implying that at least part of the arm is expanding away from ...

4-kpc arm

Astronomy; General astronomy

A component of the Sagittarius arm with noncircular gas motions.

ablation

Astronomy; General astronomy

Removal of material from a solid by heating, vaporization or collisions

absolute magnitude

Astronomy; General astronomy

1) A measure of the intrinsic brightness of a star or galaxy. Absolute magnitude is defined as the apparent magnitude the star or galaxy would have if it were 32.6 light-years (10 parsecs) from ...

absolute temperature

Astronomy; General astronomy

Temperature measured on the Kelvin scale: 0 Kelvin = -273.15 degree Celsius. Absolute temperature is directly related to (kinetic) energy via the equation E = kBT, where kB is Boltzmann's constant. ...