General astronomy

General astronomy

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General astronomy

dissociation

Astronomy; General astronomy

the splitting apart of a molecule into its constituent atoms, e.g., the splitting of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen when water vapor is struck by ultraviolet light.

an apparent change in the wavelength of energy produced by an object that is caused by the object's motion towards or away from the observer (along the line of sight). In astronomical spectra, the ...

doppler shift technique

Astronomy; General astronomy

(planet detection) method of finding exoplanets by looking for a periodic alternating redshift and blueshift of a star.

Drake Equation

Astronomy; General astronomy

an equation that estimates the number of communicating advanced civilizations inhabiting the Galaxy.

dust

Astronomy; General astronomy

one component of the interstellar medium that is made of thin, highly flattened flakes or needles of graphite and silicates coated with water ice and other frozen gases. It is responsible for the ...

dust tail

Astronomy; General astronomy

(comet): one of the two tails of a comet made of dust grains that curves away from the Sun from the action of the photons in the sunlight pushing the dust grains away from Sun. It has a yellow-white ...

eccentricity

Astronomy; General astronomy

measures how far from a circular shape an ellipse is. Numerically, the eccentricity e = 1 -- (perihelion / semi-major axis). The eccentricity e = 0 for a circle and e = nearly one (1) for very long, ...