|
DQ Herculis
DQ Herculis, or Nova Herculis 1934, was a slow, bright nova occurring in the northern constellation of Hercules in December 1934. This cataclysmic variable star was discovered on 13 December 1934 by J. P. M. Prentice from Stowmarket, Suffolk. It reached peak brightness on 22 December 1934 with an apparent magnitude of 1.5. The nova remained visible to the naked eye for several months. This is a binary star system consisting of a white dwarf primary with an estimated 60% of the mass of the Sun and a red dwarf secondary with 40% of the Sun's mass. They orbit each other tightly with a period of . The system shows orbital period variation, possibly due to the presence of a third body. The orbital plane of the pair is inclined by an angle of 86.5° to the line of sight from the Earth, causing the white dwarf to undergo a deep eclipse every orbit. DQ Herculis is the prototype for a category of cataclysmic variable stars called intermediate polars. The red dwarf has filled ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apparent Magnitude
Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the brightness of a star or other astronomical object observed from Earth. An object's apparent magnitude depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance from Earth, and any extinction of the object's light caused by interstellar dust along the line of sight to the observer. The word ''magnitude'' in astronomy, unless stated otherwise, usually refers to a celestial object's apparent magnitude. The magnitude scale dates back to the ancient Roman astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, whose star catalog listed stars from 1st magnitude (brightest) to 6th magnitude (dimmest). The modern scale was mathematically defined in a way to closely match this historical system. The scale is reverse logarithmic: the brighter an object is, the lower its magnitude number. A difference of 1.0 in magnitude corresponds to a brightness ratio of \sqrt /math>, or about 2.512. For example, a star of magnitude 2.0 is 2.512 times as bright as a star of magnitude 3.0, 6. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accretion Disk
An accretion disk is a structure (often a circumstellar disk) formed by diffuse material in orbital motion around a massive central body. The central body is typically a star. Friction, uneven irradiance, magnetohydrodynamic effects, and other forces induce instabilities causing orbiting material in the disk to spiral inward towards the central body. Gravitational and frictional forces compress and raise the temperature of the material, causing the emission of electromagnetic radiation. The frequency range of that radiation depends on the central object's mass. Accretion disks of young stars and protostars radiate in the infrared; those around neutron stars and black holes in the X-ray part of the spectrum. The study of oscillation modes in accretion disks is referred to as diskoseismology. Manifestations Accretion disks are a ubiquitous phenomenon in astrophysics; active galactic nuclei, protoplanetary disks, and gamma ray bursts all involve accretion disks. These disks very ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roche Lobe
In astronomy, the Roche lobe is the region around a star in a binary system within which orbiting material is gravitationally bound to that star. It is an approximately teardrop-shaped region bounded by a critical gravitational equipotential, with the apex of the teardrop pointing towards the other star (the apex is at the Lagrangian point of the system). The Roche lobe is different from the Roche sphere, which approximates the gravitational sphere of influence of one astronomical body in the face of perturbations from a more massive body around which it orbits. It is also different from the Roche limit, which is the distance at which an object held together only by gravity begins to break up due to tidal forces. The Roche lobe, Roche limit, and Roche sphere are named after the French astronomer Édouard Roche. Definition In a binary system with a circular orbit, it is often useful to describe the system in a coordinate system that rotates along with the objects. In this no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intermediate Polar
In astronomy, an intermediate polar (also called a DQ Herculis Star) is a type of cataclysmic variable, binary star system with a white dwarf and a cool main-sequence secondary star. In most cataclysmic variables, matter from the companion star is gravitationally stripped by the compact star and forms an accretion disk around it. In intermediate polar systems, the same general scenario applies except that the inner disk is disrupted by the magnetic field of the white dwarf. The name "intermediate polar" is derived from the strength of the white dwarf's magnetic field, which is between that of non-magnetic cataclysmic variable systems and strongly magnetic systems. Non-magnetic systems exhibit full accretion disks, while strongly magnetic systems (called polars or AM Herculis systems) exhibit only accretion streams which directly impact the white dwarf's magnetosphere. There were 26 confirmed intermediate polar systems as of 14 April 2006. This represents about 1% of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cataclysmic Variable
In astronomy, cataclysmic variable stars (CVs) are stars which irregularly increase in brightness by a large factor, then drop back down to a quiescent state. They were initially called novae (), since ones with an outburst brightness visible to the naked eye and an invisible quiescent brightness appeared as new stars in the sky. Cataclysmic variable stars are binary stars that consist of two components; a white dwarf primary, and a mass transferring secondary. The stars are so close to each other that the gravity of the white dwarf distorts the secondary, and the white dwarf accretes matter from the companion. The tightest currently observed orbit in a hydrogen-rich system is 51 minutes in ZTF J1813+4251. Therefore, the secondary is often referred to as the ''donor star''. The infalling matter, which is usually rich in hydrogen, forms in most cases an accretion disk around the white dwarf. Strong UV and X-ray emission is often seen from the accretion disc, powered by the loss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surface is made up of the ocean, dwarfing Earth's polar ice, lakes, and rivers. The remaining 29% of Earth's surface is land, consisting of continents and islands. Earth's surface layer is formed of several slowly moving tectonic plates, which interact to produce mountain ranges, volcanoes, and earthquakes. Earth's liquid outer core generates the magnetic field that shapes the magnetosphere of the Earth, deflecting destructive solar winds. The atmosphere of the Earth consists mostly of nitrogen and oxygen. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere like carbon dioxide (CO2) trap a part of the energy from the Sun close to the surface. Water vapor is widely present in the atmosphere and forms clouds that cover most of the planet. More solar e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Line-of-sight Propagation
Line-of-sight propagation is a characteristic of electromagnetic radiation or acoustic wave propagation which means waves travel in a direct path from the source to the receiver. Electromagnetic transmission includes light emissions traveling in a straight line. The rays or waves may be diffracted, refracted, reflected, or absorbed by the atmosphere and obstructions with material and generally cannot travel over the horizon or behind obstacles. In contrast to line-of-sight propagation, at low frequency (below approximately 3 MHz) due to diffraction, radio waves can travel as ground waves, which follow the contour of the Earth. This enables AM radio stations to transmit beyond the horizon. Additionally, frequencies in the shortwave bands between approximately 1 and 30 MHz, can be refracted back to Earth by the ionosphere, called skywave or "skip" propagation, thus giving radio transmissions in this range a potentially global reach. However, at frequencies above ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbital Inclination
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Earth directly above the Equator, the plane of the satellite's orbit is the same as the Earth's equatorial plane, and the satellite's orbital inclination is 0°. The general case for a circular orbit is that it is tilted, spending half an orbit over the northern hemisphere and half over the southern. If the orbit swung between 20° north latitude and 20° south latitude, then its orbital inclination would be 20°. Orbits The inclination is one of the six orbital elements describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit. It is the angle between the orbital plane and the plane of reference, normally stated in degrees. For a satellite orbiting a planet, the plane of reference is usually the plane containing the planet's equator. For pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbital Plane
The orbital plane of a revolving body is the geometric plane in which its orbit lies. Three non-collinear points in space suffice to determine an orbital plane. A common example would be the positions of the centers of a massive body (host) and of an orbiting celestial body at two different times/points of its orbit. The orbital plane is defined in relation to a reference plane by two parameters: inclination (''i'') and longitude of the ascending node (Ω). By definition, the reference plane for the Solar System is usually considered to be Earth's orbital plane, which defines the ecliptic, the circular path on the celestial sphere that the Sun appears to follow over the course of a year. In other cases, for instance a moon or artificial satellite orbiting another planet, it is convenient to define the inclination of the Moon's orbit as the angle between its orbital plane and the planet's equatorial plane. Artificial satellites around the Earth For launch vehicles and ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Dwarf
''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. The series follows low-ranking technician Dave Lister, who awakens after being in suspended animation for three million years to find that he is the last living human, and that he is alone on the mining spacecraft ''Red Dwarf''—save for a hologram his deceased bunkmate Arnold Rimmer and "Cat", a life form which evolved from Lister's pregnant cat. As of 2020, the cast includes Chris Barrie as Rimmer, Craig Charles as Lister, Danny John-Jules as Cat, Robert Llewellyn as the sanitation droid Kryten, and Norman Lovett as the ship's computer, Holly. To date, twelve series of the show have aired, (including one miniseries), in addition to a feature-length special ''The Promised Land''. Four novels were published from 1989 to 1996. Two pilot ep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.svg "Click for more on -> Earth")
