Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

130 results found

parallax

(Encyclopedia)CE5 The trigonometric parallax of a star, expressed by the angle θ, is a measure of its apparent motion against the background of more distant stars as a result of the earth's motions in its orbit...

observatory, orbiting

(Encyclopedia)observatory, orbiting, research satellite designed to study solar radiation, electromagnetic radiation from distant stars, the earth's atmosphere, or the like. Because the atmosphere and other aspects...

covenant

(Encyclopedia)covenant kŭvˈənənt [key], agreement entered into voluntarily by two or more parties to do or refrain from doing certain acts. In the Bible and in theology the covenant is the agreement or engageme...

sunspots

(Encyclopedia)sunspots, dark, usually irregularly shaped spots on the sun's surface that are actually solar magnetic storms. The spots are darker because the temperature of the spots is lower than that of the surro...

Hamburg, city, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Hamburg hämˈbo͝orkh [key], officially Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg (Free and Hanseatic Cit...

Newton, Sir Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Newton, Sir Isaac, 1642–1727, English mathematician and natural philosopher (physicist), who is considered by many the greatest scientist that ever lived. Newton was his university's representa...

supernova

(Encyclopedia)supernova, a massive star in the latter stages of stellar evolution that suddenly contracts and then explodes, increasing its energy output as much as a billionfold. Supernovas are the principal distr...

Zwingli, Huldreich

(Encyclopedia)Zwingli, Huldreich or Ulrich ho͝oldˈrīkh tsvĭngˈlē, o͝olˈrĭkh [key], 1484–1531, Swiss Protestant reformer. The real beginning of the Reformation in Switzerland was Zwingli's lectures on t...

gas laws

(Encyclopedia)gas laws, physical laws describing the behavior of a gas under various conditions of pressure, volume, and temperature. Experimental results indicate that all real gases behave in approximately the sa...

mathematics

(Encyclopedia)mathematics, deductive study of numbers, geometry, and various abstract constructs, or structures; the latter often “abstract” the features common to several models derived from the empirical, or ...