24
Messier
A French astronomer in the late 1700’s who
was primarily looking for comets . Comets are
hazy diffuse objects and so Messier cataloged
objects that were not comets to help his
search . This catalog became the Messier
Catalog, M1 through M110 .
N –
Nebula
Interstellar cloud of gas and dust . Also
refers to any celestial object that has a
cloudy appearance .
North Celestial
The point in the Northern hemisphere around
Pole
which all the stars appear to rotate . This is
caused by the fact that the Earth is rotating on
an axis that passes through the North and
South celestial poles . The star Polaris lies less
than a degree from this point and is therefore
referred to as the “Pole Star .”
Nova
Although Latin for “new” it denotes a star that
suddenly becomes explosively bright at the
end of its life cycle .
O –
Open Cluster
One of the groupings of stars that are
concentrated along the plane of the Milky
Way . Most have an asymmetrical appearance
and are loosely assembled . They contain from
a dozen to many hundreds of stars .
P –
Parallax
Parallax is the difference in the apparent
position of an object against a background
when viewed by an observer from two
different locations . These positions and the
actual position of the object form a triangle
from which the apex angle (the parallax) and
the distance of the object can be determined
if the length of the baseline between the
observing positions is known and the angular
direction of the object from each position at
the ends of the baseline has been measured .
The traditional method in astronomy of
determining the distance to a celestial object
is to measure its parallax .
Parfocal
Refers to a group of eyepieces that all require
the same distance from the focal plane of the
telescope to be in focus . This means when
you focus one parfocal eyepiece all the other
parfocal eyepieces, in a particular line of
eyepieces, will be in focus .
Parsec
The distance at which a star would show
parallax of one second of arc . It is equal to
3 .26 light–years, 206,265 astronomical units,
or 30,800,000,000,000 km . (Apart from the
Sun, no star lies within one parsec of us .)
Point Source
An object which cannot be resolved into an
image because it to too far away or too small
is considered a point source . A planet is far
away but it can be resolved as a disk . Most
stars cannot be resolved as disks, they are too
far away .
R –
Reflector
A telescope in which the light is collected by
means of a mirror .
Resolution
The minimum detectable angle an optical
system can detect . Because of diffraction,
there is a limit to the minimum angle,
resolution . The larger the aperture, the better
the resolution .
Right
The angular distance of a celestial
Ascension
: (RA) object measured in hours, minutes, and
seconds along the Celestial Equator eastward
from the Vernal Equinox .
S –
Schmidt
Rated the most important advance in optics
Telescope
in 200 years, the Schmidt telescope combines
the best features of the refractor and reflector
for photographic purposes. It was invented in
1930 by Bernhard Voldemar Schmidt
(1879-1935).
Sidereal Rate
This is the angular speed at which the Earth
is rotating . Telescope tracking motors drive
the telescope at this rate . The rate is 15 arc
seconds per second or 15 degrees per hour .
T –
Terminator
The boundary line between the light and dark
portion of the moon or a planet .
U –
Universe
The totality of astronomical things, events,
relations and energies capable of being
described objectively .
V –
Variable Star
A star whose brightness varies over time
due to either inherent properties of the star
or something eclipsing or obscuring the
brightness of the star .
W –
Waning Moon
The period of the moon’s cycle between
full and new, when its illuminated portion
is decreasing .
Waxing Moon
The period of the moon’s cycle between
new and full, when its illuminated portion
is increasing .
Z –
Zenith
The point on the Celestial Sphere directly
above the observer .
Zodiac
The zodiac is the portion of the Celestial
Sphere that lies within 8 degrees on either
side of the Ecliptic . The apparent paths of
the Sun, the Moon, and the planets, with the
exception of some portions of the path of
Pluto, lie within this band . Twelve divisions,
or signs, each 30 degrees in width, comprise
the zodiac . These signs coincided with the
zodiacal constellations about 2,000 years
ago . Because of the Precession of the Earth’s
axis, the Vernal Equinox has moved westward
by about 30 degrees since that time; the
signs have moved with it and thus no longer
coincide with the constellations .
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