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1) A measure of the intrinsic brightness of a star or galaxy. Absolute magnitude is defined as the apparent magnitude the star or galaxy would have if it were 32.6 light-years (10 parsecs) from Earth. The lower an object's absolute magnitude, the greater its intrinsic brightness. For example, the Sun has an absolute magnitude of +4.83, while Sirius, whose intrinsic brightness is greater, has an absolute magnitude of +1.43. A star that is one absolute magnitude brighter than another (e.g., +4 versus +5) is 2.5 times intrinsically brighter; a star that is 5 absolute magnitudes brighter is 100 times intrinsically brighter; and a star that is 10 absolute magnitudes brighter is 10000 times intrinsically brighter.
2) The absolute magnitude (g) of a solar-system body such as an asteroid is defined as the brightness at zero phase angle when the object is 1 AU from the Sun and 1 AU from the observer.
Industry:Astronomy
Temperature measured on the Kelvin scale: 0 Kelvin = -273.15 degree Celsius. Absolute temperature is directly related to (kinetic) energy via the equation E = kBT, where kB is Boltzmann's constant. So, a temperature of 0 K corresponds to zero energy, and room temperature, 300 K = 27 degree, corresponds to an energy of 0.025 eV.
Industry:Astronomy
The lowest possible temperature, attained when a system is at its minimum possible energy. The Kelvin temperature scale sets its zero point at absolute zero (-273.15 degree on the Celsius scale, and -434.07 degree on the Fahrenheit scale.)
Industry:Astronomy
Sudden rises superposed on the smooth decrease of the curve of the attenuation coefficient, which cause the curve to have a typical sawtooth aspect. They generally occur at the limit of spectral lines.
Industry:Astronomy
1) Dark line in a spectrum, produced when light or other electromagnetic radiation coming from a distant source passes through a gas cloud or similar object closer to the observer. Like emission lines, absorption lines betray the chemical composition and velocity of the material that produces them.
2) Dark line superposed on a continuous spectrum, caused by the absorption of light passing through a gas of lower temperature than the continuum light source.
Industry:Astronomy
a general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples
Industry:Astronomy
Peculiar star whose metallic lines are as strong as those of the F stars but whose hydrogen lines are so strong as to require that they be classed with the A stars. They are generally short-period (<300d) spectroscopic binaries with high atmospheric turbulence and variable spectra, and are slower rotators than normal A stars.
Industry:Astronomy
1) A spiral galaxy (kS5 in Morgan's classification) in the Local Group, about 650-700 kpc distant (MV = -21), visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy patch in the constellation of Andromeda. Total mass about 3.1 × 1011 Msun ; i = 77? heliocentric velocity - 180 km s-1. Its nucleus exhibits noncircular gas motions. It is similar to but slightly larger than our Galaxy.
2) Major spiral galaxy, 2.2 million light-years from Earth. Gravitationally bound to the Milky Way with which it shares membership in the Local Group, it is currently approaching us, rather than receding as is the case for most galaxies.
3) The largest galaxy in the Local Group. Also known as the Great Spiral and M31. It is about one and a half times the size of our own galaxy, and contains at least 300 globular clusters. Two smaller, elliptical galaxies (M32 and NGC 205) lie close to it.
4) The largest member of the local group. It is a giant spiral galaxy that lies 2.4 million light-years away.
Industry:Astronomy
Dwarf spheroidal galaxy in the Andromeda subgroup of the Local Group. It is among the intrinsically faintest members of the Local Group.
Industry:Astronomy
