Showing posts with label Dictionary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dictionary. Show all posts

Friday, March 18, 2011

Dictionary: Star

A star is a celestial body whose temperature and density is high enough to allow energy to be generated by nuclear fusion.
A massive range of star types have been catalogued and described, ranging in size from less than 0.1 solar masses to about 100.
Most stars follow a simple, almost straight-line, relationship linking their mass to their light output or luminosity, the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.
Stars are the basic study of most astronomers and astrophysicists, who in recent years have addressed issues including star formation, the later lives of stars after the major process of energy production – the production of helium by fusing hydrogen – has ceased, and the dynamics of interacting multiple stars, especially those involving a collapsed star and a normal one.
Astronomy Dictionary

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Dictionary: Astronomy

Astronomy = the scientific study of the individual celestial bodies (excluding the earth) and of the universe as a whole.
Its various branches include astrometry, astrodynamics, cosmology, and astrophysics.
TheFreeDictionary