Astronomy word game.

[Acme]

Holmberg radius - A measure of the semi-major axis of a galaxy.

[ACG52]

Stellar Wind- The ejection of gas from the surface of a star. Many different types of stars, including our Sun, have stellar winds. The stellar wind of our Sun is also known as the Solar wind. A star's stellar wind is strongest near the end of its life when it has consumed most of its fuel.

Edited July 27, 2015 by ACG52

[Janus]

Declination - the angular distance from the celestial equator.

[Acme]

Nakhlite - A rare class of meteorite originating on Mars & composed mainly of pyroxenes.

[Janus]

Einstein cross - a type of gravitational lensing resulting in 4 images of a background object.

[MigL]

Standard candle

 

A distance marker or measure. Typically Cepheid Variable stars or type 1A Supernovae.

[ACG52]

Extinction- The apparent dimming of star or planet when low on the horizon due to absorption by the Earth's atmosphere.

[Acme]

Nereid - A moon of Neptune that has the highest eccentricity of orbit of any satellite in the solar system. Named for sea nymphs of Greek mythology.

[ACG52]

Decretion disk-a circumstellar disk formed from gas ejected from the central star that now follows a near Keplerian orbit around it. This type of disk can be found around many Be stars.

[Janus]

Klemperer Rosette - a system of multiple bodies orbiting in regular patterns around a common barycenter.

[ACG52]

Equant-The center of a planetary epicycle.

[Endy0816]

Theia - hypothetical planet in the early solar system which according to the giant impact hypothesis collided with the Earth around 4.533 billion years ago.

[ACG52]

Apoapsis- the point in orbit farthest from the planet.

[Janus]

Sagan, Carl Edward - American astronomer and popularizer of science.

[Acme]

Dione - A moon of Saturn discovered in 1684 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini. [it wasn't named until 1847.] Dione is in a 1:2 orbital resonance with Saturn's moon Enceladus and Dione itself has two Trojan moons, Helene and Polydeuces.

[ACG52]

Electra- one of the Pleiades

[Janus]

Alkaid - the proper name for the last star in the handle of the Big Dipper.

[ACG52]

Dschubba- arabic name for δ Sco in the constellation Scorpio

[Acme]

Aerolite - A meteorite made up of mostly stony material.

[ACG52]

Eclipsing Binary- A binary system where one object passes in front of the other, cutting off some or all of its light.

[Janus]

Yoke mounting - a particular means of mounting a telescope.

[Mad For Science]

G-type star - A main sequence yellow dwarf star, the spectral type of which the sun is a member.

 

Someone end in a H, I have a good one.

[Janus]

Radioheliograph - A radio telescope used for studying the Sun.

[Mad For Science]

Helium flash - The moment when a star begins to fuse helium. For a few brief moments the star increases its energy output 100 billion fold and produces more energy than an entire galaxy.

 

Thanks Janus.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Mad For Science

[Janus]

Harvest Moon - The full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox.