Physics: Astrophysics

An intergovernmental organization for astronomical research with headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany. The ESO operates two major observatories in the Atacama desert, Chile.

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Major international facility consisting of two identical 8.1-m (27-ft) optical/infrared instruments, the Gemini Telescopes, one at Mauna Kea Observatory (Gemini North), dedicated in 1999 June, and the other on the 2715-m (8910-ft) high ridge of Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Astronomical observatory located southwest of Tucson, Arizona.

Mouʹnə kāʹə, astronomical observatory complex located on Mauna Kea peak, the "white mountain" on the island of Hawaii, at an altitude of more than 13,600 ft (4,145 m). Because of its height and excellent seeing, this site supports by far the largest astronomical facility in the world.

Astronomical observatory located in California on Mt. Wilson, near Pasadena. Mt. Wilson Observatory was founded in 1904 by George E. Hale. Its equipment includes 100-in. (2.5-m) and 60-in. (1.50-m) reflecting telescopes and two solar-tower telescopes.

Federal observatory for radio astronomy, founded in 1956 and operated under contract with the National Science Foundation by Associated Universities, Inc., a group of major universities. The headquarters are at Charlottesville, Virginia; the original observatory site is in Greenbank, West Virginia.

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
A world-famous observatory sited on Mount Palomar, about 65 kilometers northeast of San Diego, California, USA, at an altitude of 1713 meters. It is owned and operated by the Pasadena-based California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Largest and most complex single-site radio telescope in the world. It is located on the Plains of San Augustine, 80 km/50 mi west of Socorro, New Mexico.

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Major optical observatory operating the two largest single-mirror telescopes in the world. The identical 10-m (394-in.) instruments are located at an elevation of 4145 m (13,796 ft) at Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii.

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Observatory of the University of Chicago, located at an elevation of 334 m (1050 ft) at Williams Bay, Wisconsin, near Chicago. It is famous for its 1.02-m (40-in.) refracting telescope.

Branch of science that studies the motions and natures of celestial bodies, such as planets, stars, and galaxies; more generally, the study of matter and energy in the universe at large.

In astronomy, the explosive event that marked the origin of the universe as we know it. At the time of the Big Bang, the entire universe was squeezed into a hot, superdense state. The Big Bang explosion threw this compact material outwards, producing the expanding universe seen today.

A region in space, believed to be formed when a large star has collapsed in on itself at the end of its life, with such a strong gravitational pull that not even light waves can escape from it.

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Remnant radiation from the creation of the Universe. Early cosmologists predicted theoretically that the Universe originally began as a singularity that expanded into a small, hot ‘soup’ of radiation and elementary particles.

Radiation which consists of streams of high-energy particles from outer space, travelling at about the speed of light, most of which are thought to originate from supernovas.

Matter not visible but making up a large proportion of the mass of the universe, and sufficient to change its expansion into contraction.

From Atlas of the Universe
Before we can make any attempt to trace the history of the universe, we must look carefully at the situation we find today. As we have seen, each group of galaxies is receding from each other group, so that the entire universe is expanding.

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
Galaxies must have condensed out of the gases expanding from the Big Bang, beginning at a time when the average density of the Universe was roughly the same as the current mean density of a galaxy.

The branch of astronomy that deals with the origin and nature of emissions from extraterrestrial sources in the gamma-ray range of electromagnetic radiation rather than in the visible range.

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
Extremely weak wavelike disturbances that were predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity. They represent the radiation associated with the gravitational force, and are produced when massive bodies are accelerated or otherwise disturbed.

Life history of a star, beginning with its condensation out of the interstellar gas (see interstellar matter) and ending, sometimes catastrophically, when the star has exhausted its nuclear fuel or can no longer adjust itself to a stable configuration.

From The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia with atlas and weather guide
In physics and cosmology, a mathematical theory developed in the 1980s to explain the properties of elementary particles and the forces between them (in particular, gravity and the nuclear forces) in a way that combines relativity and quantum theory.

From Reader's Guide to the History of Science
Astrophysics is a branch of astronomy that deals primarily with dynamic relationships and physical structures. It came to prominence before the twentieth century and was substantially helped by the development of new technology.

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
A short period of very rapid expansion of the Universe postulated to occur very soon after the big bang. The hypothesis of inflation in the early Universe solves a number of cosmological problems.

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Planet not associated with our Solar System. The existence of other worlds, especially inhabited ones, has been the subject of debate since ancient times. In the 20th century, stars with irregular proper motions were suspected of having planetary companions; BARNARD'S STAR was a famous candidate.

Force of attraction that arises between objects by virtue of their masses. The larger the mass of an object the more strongly it attracts other objects.

A graph in which the spectral types of stars are plotted against their absolute magnitudes. Stars fall into different groupings in different parts of the graph.

In physics, a device that splits a beam of light into two parts, the parts being recombined after travelling different paths to form an interference pattern of light and dark bands.

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
Two mathematical expressions derived by Jan Oort that describe the effects of differential galactic rotation on the radial velocities (vr) and tangential velocities (vt) of stars at an average distance r from the Sun.

Or redshift, in astronomy, the systematic displacement of individual lines in the spectrum of a celestial object toward the red, or longer wavelength, end of the visible spectrum.

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Radius that a body must exceed if light from its surface is to reach an outside observer. If an object collapses below this radius, its escape velocity rises to above the speed of light and the object becomes a black hole.

The study of radiation from celestial sources in the wavelength range 91.2 to 320 nanometres, 12 to 91.2 nanometres being the extreme ultraviolet range.

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
A joint NASA/ESA mission to the Saturnian system, launched by a Titan IVB/Centaur rocket on Oct. 15 1997.

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Third of NASA's Geat Observatory series. The former Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility, it was deployed into orbit by the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1999 July. The 5.2-tonne, 14-m-long (45-ft-long) spacecraft was renamed the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Spacecraft launched from the space shuttle Atlantis on 18 October 1989 to explore the planet Jupiter. Galileo's probe entered the atmosphere of Jupiter in December 1995. It radioed information back to the orbiter for 57 minutes before the craft was destroyed by atmospheric pressure.

An optical telescope launched into orbit around the Earth in 1990 in the space shuttle Discovery, allowing observation of a volume of the universe 350 times as large as that observable from Earth.

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
A next-generation space observatory optimized for infrared astronomy that NASA plans to launch in August 2011 as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
Two NASA robotic roving landers named Spirit and Opportunity, launched to Mars in summer 2003 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, by Delta 2 rockets. Spirit was launched on June 10, followed by Opportunity on July 7.

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
An infrared astronomy space observatory launched Aug. 2003. It was the fourth and last of NASA's Great Observatories and was also a significant scientific and technical element in the agency's long-term Origins Program.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
NASA satellite used to survey the sky to map cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). CMB is the residual radiation left over from the Big Bang and is thought to represent the oldest light in the universe. WMAP was launched on 30 June 2001.