Space exploration began with the launch of Sputnik and Astrophysics was born as the application of physics to the phenomena observed by Astronomy, which etymologically means laws of the stars.
There are 2759 entries in this glossary.| Term | Definition |
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| W Virginis Star |
Cepheid variable.
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| WüRzburg Antenna |
A type of German radar dish used from 1944 in the UK and the Netherlands for the first systematic observations in radio astronomy.
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| Walled Plain |
A large, flat-floored lunar crater, particularly one that has been flooded by lava.
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| Waning |
The part of the cycle of the Moon’s phases when the illuminated fraction of the visible disc is decreasing. The opposite is waxing.
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| Water Carrier |
English name for the constellation Aquarius.
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| Water Jar |
The group of stars Gamma γ, Eta η, Zeta ζ and Pi π in the constellation Aquarius, normally shown as the Water Carrier’s jar in representations of the mythological figure associated with the constellation.
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| Water Snake |
English name for the constellation Hydra.
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| Wavelength Symbol λ |
The shortest distance between two points in a wave train that have the same phase.
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| Waxing |
The part of the cycle of the Moon’s phases when the illuminated fraction of the visible disc is increasing. The opposite is waning.
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| Wc Star |
Wolf-Rayet Star.
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| West, Comet |
Comet West.
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| Westerbork Observatory |
A Dutch national radio astronomy observatory which is part of the Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy NFRA, or ASTRON. The administrative headquarters are at Dwingeloo Observatory.
The instrument at Westerbork Observatory is called the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope WSRT. It is a fourteen-element aperture synthesis instrument, and came into operation in 1970. A major extension in 1980 increased the baseline from 1,500 to 3,000 metres 0.9 to 1.8 miles.
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| Whale |
English name for the constellation Cetus.
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| Whipple Observatory |
Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory.
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| Whirlpool Galaxy M51; Ngc 5194 |
A face-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici at a distance of 13 million light years. It was the first galaxy to be recognized as having spiral structure when it was observed by Lord Rosse in 1845. It is accompanied by a much smaller irregular galaxy, NGC 5195, which is in orbit around it.
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