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eclipse

(Encyclopedia)eclipse klps´, – [key] [Gr.,=failing], in astronomy, partial or total obscuring of one celestial body by the shadow of another. Best known are the lunar eclipses, which occur when the earth b...

Dyson, Sir Frank Watson

(Encyclopedia)Dyson, Sir Frank Watson d´sn [key], 1868–1939, English astronomer, b. Ashby-de-la-Zouch, grad. Cambridge. He was astronomer royal of Scotland (1905–10) and of England (from 1910). As director...

coronagraph

(Encyclopedia)coronagraph kr´ngrf [key], device invented by the French astronomer B. Lyot (1931) for the purpose of observing the corona of the sun and solar prominences occurring in the chromosphere. Be...

Conon

(Encyclopedia)Conon k´nn, –nn [key], 3d cent. BC, Greek astronomer and mathematician of Samos. He traveled in the western part of the Greek world making astronomical observations, then settled at Alexandri...

Algol

(Encyclopedia)Algol l´gl [key], famous variable star in the constellation Perseus; Bayer designation Persei; 1992 position R.A. 3h07.7m, Dec. +40°55. Algol's variation in apparent magnitude, from 2.06 t...

De la Rue, Warren

(Encyclopedia)De la Rue, Warren dl´roo, dlroo´ [key], 1815–89, British scientist and inventor. Especially noted as an astronomer, he was a pioneer in celestial photography. He adapted the wet-plate ...

flare, solar

(Encyclopedia)flare, solar: see chromosphere.

solar cell

(Encyclopedia)solar cell, semiconductor devised to convert light to electric current. It is a specially constructed diode, usually made of forms of crystalline silicon or of thin films (as of copper indium gallium ...

solar constant

(Encyclopedia)solar constant, the average amount of radiant energy received by the earth's atmosphere from the sun; its value is about 2 calories per min incident on each square centimeter of the upper atmosphere. ...

solar energy

(Encyclopedia)solar energy, any form of energy radiated by the sun, including light, radio waves, and X rays, although the term usually refers to the visible light of the sun. Solar energy is needed by green plants...