General astronomy

General astronomy

Industry: Astronomy

Add a new term

Contributors in General astronomy

Become a Contributors

General astronomy

starburst galaxy

Astronomy; General astronomy

a galaxy undergoing a large burst of star formation usually as a result of a collision or merger of two galaxies. It can produce as much light as several hundred ``normal'' undisturbed galaxies.

relation between the amount of energy emitted by a unit area on an object producing a thermal spectrum and its temperature: energy in Joules emitted by one square meter = 5.67× 10-8 × temperature4. ...

stellar nucleosynthesis

Astronomy; General astronomy

the creation of more massive nuclei from the fusion of less-massive nuclei inside stars. Just about all of the elements heavier than helium on the Earth were originally created via stellar ...

stratosphere

Astronomy; General astronomy

layer of a planet's atmosphere above a troposphere where temperature rises with increasing altitude because of the absorption of ultraviolet light.

subgiant

Astronomy; General astronomy

the stage in a star's life between the main sequence and the red giant stages. The helium core shrinks and the hdyrogen shell layer outside the core undergoes nuclear fusion. The energy of the shell ...

sublime

Astronomy; General astronomy

the turning of a solid directly into a gas without going through the intermediate liquid phase, e.g. the vapor of ``dry ice'' (the sublimation of frozen carbon dioxide).

sunspot

Astronomy; General astronomy

cooler region on the Sun's surface that is a region of intense magnetic fields and is associated with solar activity. Because a sunspot is 1000 to 1500 K cooler, it is dimmer than the surrounding ...