Astronomical dictionary

Click on the letters below to go to the first entry of alphabetical sections or look up the word in the list below, click on it and go directly to the dictionary entry. Click here to go to the first page of the dictionary. Please email the webmaster if any links do not work.

This is by no means a comprehensive glossary of astronomical terms however it should provide some assistance to novices and improvers in particular. Where you see , click on the image for a diagram or picture associated with that word. Cross references within the glossary are indicated by hyperlink text. The following is an excellent reference book - Space Encyclopedia (Heather Couper(Editor), Nigel Henbest(Editor))

Click on the letters below to go to the first entry of each alphabetical section. Click the link to get back to the site entry page.

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

Alternatively, use the search box below to search the site for the information that you require.

It is my intention that the site will continue to evolve. My main long term plan is to add deeper layers of information to make the site more useful as a reference source. Please feel free to contact me to suggest additions to the site.

When you have finished here, why not take a trip on the Science Expedition, click on the rail or the arrows below for the next station.

Netscape users: Please note that some of the text formatting does not render correctly I will eventually get round to sorting it.

Click here to visit Aries on line, the Derby and District Astronomical Society magazine. It contains a variety of articles including beginners materials.

Last updated on 20th January 2005

A index

Aberration (of starlight)
Absolute Magnitude
Accretion Disc
Achondrite
Achromatic lens
Aerolite
Airglow
Airy disc
Albedo
Altazimuth Mount
Altitude
Analemma
Angular distance
Aperture
Aphelion
Apogee
Appenines
Aperture Synthesis
Appulse
Arcminute and arcsecond
Ashen Light
Asterism
Asteroids
Astrograph
Astrology
Astrometric Binary
Astrometry
Astronomical Twilight
Astronomical Unit
Astrophysics
Atmosphere
Atmospheric refraction
Atom
Aurora
Azimuth

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B index

Baily's Beads
Barlow lens
Big Bang Theory
Binary (star)
BL Lacertae object
Black Body
BlackDrop
Black Dwarf
Black hole
Blue shift
Bok Globules
Bolide

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C index

Carbon Stars
Cassegrain Reflector
Cassini Division
Catadioptic Telescope
Celestial equator
Celestial latitude
Celestial longitude
Celestial sphere
Cepheid Variable
Charge Coupled Device (CCD)
Chromosphere
Chromatic aberration
Circumpolar
Cluster
Collapsar
Colour index
Coma
Comes
Comet
Conjunction
Constellation
Convection
Copernican system
Corona
Coronal hole
Cosmic rays
Cosmological red shift
Cosmology
Counter glow

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D index

Dark Adapted
Declination
Doppler effect
Double star

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E index

Eccentricity
Eclipse
Ecliptic
Ellipse
Elongation
Equinox
Escape velocity
Event horizon
Eyepiece

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F index

Faculae
Fireball
First Contact
Flare
Fourth Contact

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G index

Satellite

Schwarzchild radius
Scintillation
Seeing
Selected planetary features

Seyfert galaxy
Shooting star
Sidereal time
Sirius
Solar wind
Solstice
Spectra
Spectral lines
Spectral type
Spectroscope
Spectrum
Star
Stellar Wind
Sunspot
Superior
Supernova
Synchronous rotation
Synodic period

 
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 T index

T associations
T Tauri stars
Telluric
Terminator
Terrae
Tesserae
Tektites
Third contact
Transit
TLP (Transient Lunar Phenomenon)
Total eclipse
Trojan Asteroids
Tunguska event
Tycho

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U index

Ultraviolet
Umbra
Universal time (UT)

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V index

Vallis
Van Allen belts
Vastitas
Venus

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W index

Waning
Wavelength
Waxing
White dwarf
Widmanstätten pattern
WIMP

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Z index

Zeeman effect
Zenith
Zenith distance
Zodiac
Zodiacal constellations
Zodiacal light

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Astronomical dictionary

Contents

Click on the letters below to go to the first entry of alphabetical sections or look up the word in the list below, click on it and go directly to the dictionary entry. Click here to go to the first page of the dictionary. Please email the webmaster if any links do not work.