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This glossary of astronomy is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to astronomy and cosmology, their sub-disciplines, and related fields. Astronomy is concerned with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth. The field of astronomy features an extensive vocabulary and a ...
ICRF – (astrophysics terminology) International Celestial Reference Frame, a coordinate system based on radio sources used to define the locations of objects in the sky; ICRS – (astrophysics terminology) International Celestial Reference System, a coordinate system based on Hipparcos observations used to define the locations of objects in ...
Visible-light astronomy has existed as long as people have been looking up at the night sky, although it has since improved in its observational capabilities since the invention of the telescope, which is commonly credited to Hans Lippershey, a German-Dutch spectacle-maker, [1] although Galileo played a large role in the development and ...
Optical science is relevant to and studied in many related disciplines including astronomy, various engineering fields, photography, and medicine (particularly ophthalmology and optometry, in which it is called physiological optics).
OGLE — Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment; Ol — Charles Pollard Olivier (double stars) ... Glossary of astronomy; Modern constellations; References
As the resolving power of telescopes increased, numerous objects that were thought to be a single object were found to be optical star systems that were too closely spaced in the sky to be discriminated by the human eye. This led to a third iteration, where numeric superscripts were added to distinguish those previously unresolved stars.
Infrared astronomy is founded on the detection and analysis of infrared radiation, wavelengths longer than red light and outside the range of our vision. The infrared spectrum is useful for studying objects that are too cold to radiate visible light, such as planets, circumstellar disks or nebulae whose light is blocked by dust.
Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. [1] [2] As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space—what they are, rather than where they are", [3] which is studied ...