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Questions tagged [terminology]

Questions regarding specific terms, names, or naming conventions.

136 questions
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Name of area close to Local Bubble?

The following image is a map of the area surrounding the Local Bubble. One side of the image is 1700 lightyears. From the Sun to the Hyades (immediately below the sun) it is 150 lightyears. The local bubble, with the sun in its center, has three…
user2233
12
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4 answers

What is the name of that which exists beyond the Universe?

"The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of existence" but that is more of a philosophical position. Empirically we know (or believe) that it is of finite size some believe it is expanding others that is (or will be) contracting. As we…
James Jenkins
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Time period in which a planet rotates

I notice that Wikipedia give two contradictory terms for the time period in which a planet rotates in relation to an infinitely-distant object. In one place this is called a "sidereal day" and in another "stellar day". Which of these are correct?…
dotancohen
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Is there a word for an object orbiting a brown dwarf?

In my answer to this question someone posed somewhere: If an Earth-massed moon orbits a planet that has 74-83 times Jupiter’s mass, would the Earth massed moon still be a moon, or a planet? I wrote: A planetary mass object is an object with a…
M. A. Golding
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Term for a momentary geometric pattern formed by astronomical objects

Few days back, the Pleiades, the Sun and the Moon were forming an almost perfect equilateral triangle. Is there a term that describes such momentary geometrical patterns? Asterism and conjunction are close, but not exactly applicable here.
HRJ
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Why do astronomers not use past tense when discussing observations of the universe

Describing a galaxy 70 million light years away, I consider it incorrect to state for example "it has an active black-hole at its center". It did 70 million years ago, who knows what is out there now. I could understand using the present tense for…
Peter Brand
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What is the term for astronomical objects outside the solar system that are smaller than dwarf planets?

Asteroids and comets only seem to refer to masses within the solar system, and it seems unclear whether planetesimal does.
Kelmikra
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Does astro means space or stars

In the popular TV show The Big Bang Theory Season 3, Episode 4, Sheldon Cooper said that astro means star and Raj said astro means space, I got a little confused here, various websites and others are going 50-50 on the subject. What does astro…
Tazpool
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Is intrastellar commonly used by astronomers to refer to objects within our solar system?

The CNET article Interstellar comet Borisov looks ordinary, making Oumuamua even weirder says: A paper published Monday in Nature Astronomy lays out the early data on Borisov, which is just the second-ever object seen visiting our solar system from…
uhoh
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Is REDSHIFT one word or two?

I (myself) prefer one but an editor I use redlines it as a misspelling, so which one should we use here?
Curious Cat
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Why are white dwarfs being classified as compact objects instead of black dwarfs?

Why are white dwarfs being classified as compact objects instead of black dwarfs? As a black dwarf is the end stage of a white dwarf.
Jack the Ranger
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