Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Spitzer Space Telescope: see infrared astronomy; observatory, orbiting. ...

(Encyclopedia) nadir nāˈdər [key] [Arab.,=opposite], in astronomy, the point on the celestial sphere directly opposite the zenith, i.e., directly beneath the observer. ...

(Encyclopedia) Hawaii, University of, at Honolulu (Manoa Campus), Hilo, and Pearl City (West Oahu Campus) with additional community college campuses; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1907, op...

(Encyclopedia) hell, in Western monotheistic religions, eternal abode of souls damned by the judgment of God. The souls in hell are deprived forever of the sight of God. The punishment of hell is generally analogize...

(Encyclopedia) Lovell, Sir Bernard (Sir Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell), 1913–2012, English radio astronomer, b. Oldland Common, Gloucestershire, England, Ph.D. Univ. of Bristol, 1936. He was a member of the cosmic...

(Encyclopedia) synchrotron radiation, in physics, electromagnetic radiation emitted by high-speed electrons spiraling along the lines of force of a magnetic field (see magnetism). Depending on the electron's energy ...

(Encyclopedia) Hypsicles of Alexandria hĭpˈsĭklēz [key], astronomer of ancient Greece. Some authorities place Hypsicles in the 2d cent. b.c. and some in the 2d cent. a.d. The 14th and 15th books of Euclid's Elem...

(Encyclopedia) blink microscope, in astronomy, device for determining a change in position or magnitude (brightness) of a star relative to other stars in the background. Two photographs of the same field or area of ...

(Encyclopedia) Amici, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä ämēˈchē [key], 1786–1863, Italian astronomer, mathematician, and naturalist. He became director of the observatory and professor of astronomy...

(Encyclopedia) quadrature, in astronomy, arrangement of two celestial bodies at right angles to each other as viewed from a reference point. If the reference point is the earth and the sun is one of the bodies, a pl...