| Astronomy Glossary |
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A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z
A
Asteroid
A little rocky object in our Solar System.
( Asteroids, Comets & co
)
Astrology A "tradition" with
tries to link the human behaviour to the position of the
sun, the moon or the planets.
Astronomy The exploration of the universe
and its components outside the atmosphere of our earth.
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B
Big
Bang A model for the creation of our universe.
At the beginning the universe was in a condition with endless
density and suddenly started to expand.
Black Hole An object in space with a gravitation
field that even swallows light. They emerge when matter
collapses (e.g. a dying star).
Brown Dwarf The name for a very cold star
with mass doesn't allow a nuclear reaction inside the star.
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C
Comet
A object out of ice with orbits the sun. ( Asteroids,
Comets & co )
Comet Tail If a comet comes close to the
sun the ice begins to melt. The evolving gas and dust build
up one or more tails.
Corona The very first layer of the sun
with can be seen while a total solar eclipse. ( Sun
Eclipse 1999 in Europe )
Cosmology A term in astronomy
with deals with the beginning, characteristics and the evolution
of our universe.
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D
Dark
Matter The existence of this matter hasn't been
proved jet, but it's an important element in our galaxies.
We get evidences of the existence when we watch the speed
from clusters of galaxies. There we see that the dark matter
has to be about 10 time bigger than the glowing matter.
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E
Elliptical
Galaxy A galaxy formed like a ellipse without a
spiral structure.
Eclipse When the light of an orb obscures an other
object. This can be, for example, the sun or moon eclipse.
( Sun Eclipse
1999 in Europe )
Ecliptic The orbit of the earth around
the sun.
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F
Flare
A phenomenon in our sun causing free energy with speeds
and heats up matter on the sun's atmosphere.
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G
Galaxy
This is a large group of stars with are hold together by
the mutual attraction. ( Gallery
)
Gravitation The attractive power which
exits between all objects.
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H
Horizon
It defines the borderline between the visible and the invisible
half of the celestial sphere.
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I
Irregular
Galaxy A galaxy that is not a elliptical
galaxy or a spiral galaxy. About a
quarter of all galaxies are irregular.
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J
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K
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L
Local
Group A group of galaxies to which the Milky
Way belongs. Almost all galaxies are little elliptic
and irregular galaxies. The biggest galaxy in the local
group is the Andromeda Galaxy.
Light-year The distance that the light
covers in one year. One light-year is about 9.4607 x 
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M
Meteor A dust particle or rock which enters
the atmosphere of the earth and dies down (in the atmosphere).
Meteorite A dust particle or rock which
cross the atmosphere and reaches ground.
Meteor Shower A stream of meteors which
appears for a certain time in the year (hours - days).
Milky Way The common term for our galaxy.
It also signifies the strip of light on the night sky. (
Gallery )
Moon The only natural satellite
of our earth.
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N
Nebula
A cloud out of gas and dust. In the past people named fare
away galaxies as nebula.
Neutron Star A star with has about 1.5
- 3 masses of our sun. But the gravitation tightens him
that he mainly consists of neutrons. They have a diameter
of about 10 kilometers.
New Moon A phase when the sun and the moon
are at the same width. From the earth the front side of
the moon is totally unlighted
North Star (Polaris) The name for the star
Polaris which is about 1° away from the north pole.
Nova The luminance of a star gets suddenly
10 times brighter (the magnitude increases) and fades away
after a couple of months.
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O
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P
Planet
A body that circulates around our sun or another star. This
body is also to small to be a star on its own.
Planetary Nebula Expanding Gas around a
star which recently born. There is NO connection between
a planetary nebula and a planet.
Plasma An ionic gas with exists of electrons
and atomic nucleus. The whole matter inside a star is in
a plasma-condition.
Pulsar A radio source which sends out impulses
regularly. A pulsar is a neutron star which
has the mass of our sun but a diameter of about 10 kilometers.
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Q
Quasar
An starlike, extragalactic object with an enormous illuminating
power and a great redshift.
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R
Radio
Galaxy A galaxy with a unusual high radio emission
rate. Only one out of a million galaxies is a radio galaxy.
Redshift The increase of a electromagnetic
wave because the source of radiation departs or because
of a gravitation field.
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S
Satellite
This is an object which circulates around another object
with much more mass. For example the moon is the only satellite
of our earth.
Seti The shortcut for the NASA program:
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. ( Seti
)
Solar System The term for our sun with
all its planets, satellites, comets, asteroids,...
Solar Wind The current which exists of
protons and neutrons. They emanate from our sun with the
speed of about 900 km/h.
Spectrum The segmentation of a shaft of
light in its spectrum. The different wavelengths are resolved
into shorter and longer regions.
Spiral Galaxy A galaxy with spiral arms.
Our own galaxy, the milky way, is a spiral galaxy. ( Gallery
)
Star A glowing sphere of gas which produces
its energy with nuclear reaction inside the star.
Sun The star of our Solar System.
Sun Eclipse (Lunar Eclipse) cp. Eclipse
Supernova The explosion of a star with
releases very much energy. A supernova has the illuminating
power of a galaxy.
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T
Telescope
An instrument to collect and focus electromagnetic radiation
and finally create an image or a signal.
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U
Universe
All the existing things out there. Even today we don't know
how large the universe really is. Theories say that the
universe was born with the big bang.
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V
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W
White
Dwarf (Star) A star at the end of his life. A star
turns into a white dwarf when he wasted all his material
for the nuclear reaction.
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X
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Y
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Z
Zenith
The highest point above the observer. Just look vertical
into the sky.
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