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Astronomy Terms

May 15, 2008 | Hits for this post:47 |

Some basic information about Astronomy Terms

One must be basic information about the terminology of a subject if they want to study it deeply. Astronomy is not an exception in this case. Astronomy terms are comparatively easy to understand and easy to remember. There are hundreds of terms are in astronomy but we are going to discuss some of the basic astronomy terms. It helps the person who is interested in astronomy and physics to understand the subject well.

‘Absolute magnitude’ is an astronomy term which defines the brightness of an object if it is seen from the remoteness of 32.6 light years. ‘Angle’ is another basic term used in astronomy to express two directions. It is used to measure the deviation between to direction. Angle is commonly measured with the parameter, degree. ‘Apparent dimension’ is used to measure the angle of an object which appear to an observer. Arc minute is the unit for apparent dimension.

When a celestial object is seen by an observer or the apparatus fixed for the observation will instantly calculate the ‘brightness’ of the object. The brightness of an object is measured in magnitudes. ‘Distance’ is another astronomy term which defines the length between two or more celestial objects. The distance is measured with the units of length such as feet, kilometer, light year etc. usually earth is one object and other celestial bodies considered as the second object. ‘Light year’ is the common unit for measuring the length. The one year traveling time of light with its speed of 299,792 km/sec is considered as one light year.

The astronomy term ‘distance module’ define the difference between the apparent magnitude and absolute magnitude of an object with the accepted interstellar absorption. Measuring a time or a particular point of time is termed ‘Epoch’ in astronomy. The ‘Magnitude’ has important role in astronomy terms because; magnitude is the logarithmical measure of the brightness of an object.

‘Orientation’ is related with the rotation of earth. Because, sky or other celestial space is determined by the rotation of earth. It defines North, South, East and West. ‘Parsec (pc) defines the mean distance of the orbit of earth around the sun. ‘Position angle’ is another important astronomy term. This term gives defined orientation to an object in space.

There are hundreds of terms in astronomy. As astronomy is part of physics, there is considerable number of common terms. Astronomy terms are comparatively common because, we all are interested in one or other way with the astronomic physics.

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Article written by Kamlesh Makwana

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    1. Astronomy: Search The Galaxy » Astronomy Terms on May 15, 2008 8:26 am

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