Term Index (C)

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Term Index (C)

C:
- Caldwell Catalog: small catalog for amateur astronomers as an adjunct to the Messier Catalog
- Cambridge Catalog of Radio Sources (C): series of catalogs of northern hemisphere sources
- carbon (C): element, C, atomic number 6
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
- relativity: physics models accommodating the constancy of the speed of light
- speed of light (c): fundamental constant measured as the speed at which light travels
C band:
- C-BASS: 6 cm survey of the entire sky
C chondrite:
- carbonaceous chondrite (C chondrite): stony meteorites with carbon compounds showing no melting
C class:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
C*:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
C-band All Sky Survey:
- C-BASS: 6 cm survey of the entire sky
- Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO): group of radio telescopes in California near the VLBA
C-BASS: 6 cm survey of the entire sky
C-BASS Telescope:
- Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO): group of radio telescopes in California near the VLBA
C-COSMOS:
- Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): investigation of dark matter and the universe's large scale structure
C-H:
- methylidyne (CH): compound of one carbon and one hydrogen atom
C-type shock:
- shock wave: abrupt propagating disturbance in a fluid
C-type star:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
C. Donald Shane Telescope:
- Shane Telescope: 3.05 m reflector telescope at Lick Observatory
C/P:
- Solar Maximum Mission (SMM): 1980s satellite to study the Sun during solar maximum
C₂H₂:
- acetylene (C₂H₂): compound of two carbon and two hydrogen atoms
C₂H₄:
- ethylene (C₂H₄): compound of two carbon and four hydrogen atoms
C₃H₄:
- tracer: chemical whose presence indicates the presence of another chemical
C₆₀:
- diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs): type of absorption bands seen in astronomical objects
- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH): hydrocarbons consisting of meshes of benzene rings
C_P:
- specific heat: ratio of added temperature to added heat for a material
C_V:
- specific heat: ratio of added temperature to added heat for a material
C⁺: ionized carbon missing one electron
- carbon (C): element, C, atomic number 6
Ca:
- calcium (Ca): element, Ca, atomic number 20
Ca I:
- calcium (Ca): element, Ca, atomic number 20
Ca II:
- calcium (Ca): element, Ca, atomic number 20
Ca II K line:
- Wilson-Bappu effect: a relation between a star's spectral line and luminosity
cadence: period between observations
CAESAR: planned space mission to return a sample of a comet
CAI: calcium/aluminum specs in chondrites
Calán/Tololo Supernova Search:
- Calán/Tololo Survey: late 1980s to early 1990s search to redshift 0.1
Calán/Tololo Survey: late 1980s to early 1990s search to redshift 0.1
Calar Alto 2.2 meter telescope:
- Munich Near-Infrared Cluster Survey (MUNICS): 1990s-2000s galaxy cluster survey
Calar Alto 3.5 meter telescope:
- CALIFA: spectroscopic map of 600 galaxies
- Munich Near-Infrared Cluster Survey (MUNICS): 1990s-2000s galaxy cluster survey
Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area Survey:
- CALIFA: spectroscopic map of 600 galaxies
Calar Alto Observatory:
- CALIFA: spectroscopic map of 600 galaxies
- Munich Near-Infrared Cluster Survey (MUNICS): 1990s-2000s galaxy cluster survey
calcium (Ca): element, Ca, atomic number 20
- Am star: A-type star with metallic lines
calcium carbonate:
- carbonate-silicate cycle: long-term cycle that sequesters Earth carbon
calcium silicate:
- carbonate-silicate cycle: long-term cycle that sequesters Earth carbon
calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion:
- CAI: calcium/aluminum specs in chondrites
calcium-rich gap transient: type of explosive event larger than a nova and smaller than a supernova
calcium-rich supernova:
- calcium-rich gap transient: type of explosive event larger than a nova and smaller than a supernova
Caldwell:
- Caldwell Catalog: small catalog for amateur astronomers as an adjunct to the Messier Catalog
Caldwell 12:
- NGC 6946: face-on spiral galaxy
Caldwell 5:
- IC 342: spiral galaxy in the Council of Giants
Caldwell 79:
- NGC 3201: globular cluster in which a black hole has been identified
Caldwell Catalog: small catalog for amateur astronomers as an adjunct to the Messier Catalog
CALIFA: spectroscopic map of 600 galaxies
California:
- Allen Telescope Array (ATA): array of radio telescopes in northern California for SETI
- Automated Planet Finder (APF): robotic telescope to find exoplanets using RV method
- BIMA telescope: millimeter interferometer in operation 1985 to 2005
- CHARA: optical interferometer
- COMAP: high frequency radio telescope to map CO
- Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA): array of radio telescopes in eastern California
- Hale Telescope: 5.1 m reflector telescope in California
- Lick Observatory: California observatory of long standing
- Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS): search for supernovae for cosmological study
- Livermore Optical Transient Imaging System (LOTIS): automated telescope aiming to catch GRB optical counterparts
- Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO): group of radio telescopes in California near the VLBA
- Palomar 48 Inch Telescope (P48): 48 inch Schmidt telescope at Palomar Observatory
- Palomar 60-inch Telescope (P60): 60 inch telescope at Palomar Observatory
- Palomar Observatory: California observatory with Hale telescope
- Palomar Testbed Interferometer (PTI): near-infrared interferometer experiment
- Shane Telescope: 3.05 m reflector telescope at Lick Observatory
- Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA): array of eight 3.5 meter microwave telescopes
California Extremely Large Telescope (CELT): concept for an extremely large telescope
California-Kepler Survey (CKS): followup to Kepler to determine stellar radii
Callisto: well-known Jupiter moon
Caltech:
- IPAC: Caltech group to collect and analyze infrared observations
- Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO): group of radio telescopes in California near the VLBA
- Palomar Observatory: California observatory with Hale telescope
- Two Micron Sky Survey (IRC,TMSS): 1969 infrared catalog produced by Caltech
Caltech Infrared Catalog:
- Two Micron Sky Survey (IRC,TMSS): 1969 infrared catalog produced by Caltech
Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO): 10.4 meter submillimeter telescope in Hawaii
Camargo:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CAMB:
- CMBFAST: software to calculate CMB anisotropies
Cambridge Automated Plate Measuring Machine:
- plate measuring machine (APM): machine to measure position of images on photographic plates
Cambridge Automatic Plate Measuring Machine:
- APM Galaxy Survey (APMUKS): 1990s survey of galaxies in southern sky
Cambridge Catalog of Radio Sources (C): series of catalogs of northern hemisphere sources
Cambridge Interferometer:
- Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources (3C): 1959 catalog of northern hemisphere 159MHz sources
Cambridge OH Suppression Instrument:
- United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT): Mauna Kea 3.8 meter infrared telescope
Cambridge Optical Aperture Synthesis Telescope:
- COAST: optical interferometer in England
Camelopardalis:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
camera:
- GISMO: 2 mm bolometer camera on IRAM 30 m telescope
- MUSTANG: bolometer array on the Green Bank Telescope
- QUEST: sixteen square-degree survey camera
- SCUBA: submillimeter instrument on James Clark Maxwell Telescope
- TolTEC: sensitive infrared camera under construction for the LMT
cameras:
- image stabilization: camera mechanism to compensate for movement
CAMISTIC:
- Infrared Telescope Maffei (ITM,IRAIT): 80 cm infrared telescope in Antarctica
Campo Imperatore:
- Campo Imperatore Near-Earth Object Survey (CINEOS): survey of near-Earth objects
Campo Imperatore Near-Earth Object Survey (CINEOS): survey of near-Earth objects
CAMS:
- ASTRO-H: Japanese space X-ray telescope
Canada:
- Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME,CH): radio telescope mapping distant neutral hydrogen
- Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA,ICAT): national research organization at University of Toronto
- CSA: includes astronomical research
- Dominion Observatory 10.03 MHz Source Catalog (DB): 1960s survey of northern-hemisphere radio sources
- Dominion Observatory 1420 MHz Source Catalog (DA): 1960s survey of northern-hemisphere radio sources
- Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO): radio observatory in British Columbia, Canada
- Large Zenith Telescope (LZT): 6 meter liquid mirror telescope in British Columbia
- Queen's University Radio Observatory (QRO): early radio astronomy facility near Kingston, Ontario
- Saskatoon: 1990s survey to measure CMB anisotropy
Canada-France Brown Dwarfs Survey:
- CFBDS: survey in search of brown dwarfs
Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey (CFHQS): 2000s distant quasar survey
Canada-France Redshift Survey (CFRS): 1990s survey of galaxies to z = 1 to find associations of redshift to characteristics
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT): 3.6 meter optical/infrared telescope in Hawaii
- Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey (CFHQS): 2000s distant quasar survey
- Canada-France Redshift Survey (CFRS): 1990s survey of galaxies to z = 1 to find associations of redshift to characteristics
- Canadian Cluster Comparison Project (CCCP): multi-wavelength survey of fifty X-ray-selected galaxy clusters
- CFHTLS: surveys of transients and stars
- Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS): survey searching for trans-Neptune objects
- SPIRou: CFHT spectropolarimeter for exoplanet research
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey:
- CFHTLS: surveys of transients and stars
Canadian Cluster Comparison Project (CCCP): multi-wavelength survey of fifty X-ray-selected galaxy clusters
Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME,CH): radio telescope mapping distant neutral hydrogen
Canadian Hydrogen Observatory and Radio-transient Detector:
- Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME,CH): radio telescope mapping distant neutral hydrogen
Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA,ICAT): national research organization at University of Toronto
Canadian Space Agency:
- CSA: includes astronomical research
CanariCam:
- Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC): 10.4 meter telescope in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands:
- Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA): ground gamma-ray telescope array in development
- COSMOSOMAS: microwave survey
- Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC): 10.4 meter telescope in the Canary Islands
- HARPS-N: high-precision spectrograph for exoplanet searches in Canary Islands
- Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING): three telescopes in Canary Islands
- Isaac Newton Telescope (INT): 2.5 m telescope in Canary Islands
- LSPE-STRIP: CMB survey telescope in Canary Islands
- Mercator Telescope: 1.2 m telescope in the Canary Islands
- Overwhelmingly Large Telescope (OWL): 100 m telescope plan
- QUIJOTE: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM,LPO,NHO): observatory at La Palma in the Canary Islands
- SuperWASP (SWASP): broad Earth-based search for transiting planets
- Teide Observatory: observatory on Mount Teide in the Canary Islands
- Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG): 3.58 m telescope in Canary Islands
- Tenerife Experiment: 1980s-1990s survey of CMB anisotropies
- Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT): extremely large telescope planned for Hawaii
- Very Small Array (VSA): radio interferometer in Canary Islands
- William Herschel Telescope (WHT): 4.2 meter telescope in the Canary Islands
Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex:
- NASA Deep Space Network (NASA DSN,DSN): NASA's world-wide radio communication setup
CANCAM:
- CAESAR: planned space mission to return a sample of a comet
CANDELS:
- Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS): early universe survey by HST
candidate companion (CC): possible object apparently orbiting a known object
Canes Venatici Cloud:
- galaxy cloud: substructure of a supercluster
Canes Venatici I:
- Milky Way subgroup: the Milky Way and its satellites
Canes Venatici II:
- Milky Way subgroup: the Milky Way and its satellites
Canis Major:
- Milky Way subgroup: the Milky Way and its satellites
Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy: small irregular galaxy in the Local Group
Canis Major Overdensity:
- Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy: small irregular galaxy in the Local Group
canonical pulsar:
- millisecond pulsar (MSP): pulsar spinning with a period in the range of milliseconds
Canopus: second brightest star in the sky
capacitance:
- dielectric: insulator that responds to an electric field
capacitor:
- dielectric: insulator that responds to an electric field
Cape Photographic Durchmusterung:
- Bonner Durchmusterung Catalog (BD): well-known astrometric catalog from late 1800s
CAPMAP: early 2000s array that surveyed CMB polarization
CAPS:
- Cassini: explorer spacecraft sent to Saturn
capture theory:
- nebular hypothesis: model positing solar system planets result from a solar disk
captured rotation:
- tidal locking: locked rotation of an orbiting body
carbide planet:
- carbon planet: theoretical planet type with more carbon than oxygen
carbon (C): element, C, atomic number 6
- acetylene (C₂H₂): compound of two carbon and two hydrogen atoms
- alpha CO (α_CO): ratio of CO emissions to H₂
- C⁺: ionized carbon missing one electron
- carbon burning: fusion reaction starting with carbon
- carbon dioxide (CO₂): compound of carbon atom and two oxygen atoms
- carbon monoxide (CO): compound of carbon and oxygen, one atom each
- carbon planet: theoretical planet type with more carbon than oxygen
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
- carbonate-silicate cycle: long-term cycle that sequesters Earth carbon
- ethylene (C₂H₄): compound of two carbon and four hydrogen atoms
- hydrocarbon (HC): any compound of just carbon and hydrogen
- ionized carbon fine structure line ([CII]): carbon line that traces distant star formation
- methane (CH₄): compound of one carbon and 4 hydrogen atoms
- methylidyne (CH): compound of one carbon and one hydrogen atom
- neutrons from carbon-13: process by which neutrons are freed in the s process
- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH): hydrocarbons consisting of meshes of benzene rings
carbon burning: fusion reaction starting with carbon
- magnesium (Mg): element, Mg, atomic number 12
- neon (Ne): element, Ne, atomic number 10
- nucleosynthesis: creation of atomic nuclei
- sodium (Na): metal, Na, atomic number 11
Carbon CII Line in Post-Reionization and Reionization Epoch:
- CONCERTO: spectrometer aimed at mapping the [CII] line
carbon cycle:
- carbon dioxide (CO₂): compound of carbon atom and two oxygen atoms
carbon dating:
- radioactive dating: determining the age of a substance that has a radioactive component
carbon deflagration:
- Type Ia supernova: type of supernova for which distance can be determined
carbon detonation:
- Type Ia supernova: type of supernova for which distance can be determined
carbon dioxide (CO₂): compound of carbon atom and two oxygen atoms
- acidity (pH): measure of the activity of hydrogen ions in a solution
- carbonate system: system governing water and CO2 in the presence of each other
- carbonate-silicate cycle: long-term cycle that sequesters Earth carbon
carbon fusion:
- carbon burning: fusion reaction starting with carbon
carbon monosulfide:
- tracer: chemical whose presence indicates the presence of another chemical
carbon monoxide (CO): compound of carbon and oxygen, one atom each
Carbon Monoxide Mapping Array (COMA): planned experiment to observe epoch of reionization
Carbon Monoxide Power Spectrum Survey:
- COPSS: survey of CO from star forming epoch
carbon planet: theoretical planet type with more carbon than oxygen
carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
carbon to oxygen ratio:
- carbon (C): element, C, atomic number 6
carbon, nitrogen$#44; oxygen:
- CNO cycle: fusion reaction chain turning hydrogen and nitrogen into helium and nitrogen
carbon-14:
- radioactive dating: determining the age of a substance that has a radioactive component
carbon-burning shell:
- carbon burning: fusion reaction starting with carbon
carbon-enhanced metal.page-poor:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
carbon-oxygen white dwarf:
- white dwarf (WD): stellar remnant of mostly electron degenerate matter
carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet:
- Wolf-Rayet star: type of star with broad emission bands
carbonaceous chondrite (C chondrite): stony meteorites with carbon compounds showing no melting
carbonate:
- acidity (pH): measure of the activity of hydrogen ions in a solution
- carbonate system: system governing water and CO2 in the presence of each other
carbonate system: system governing water and CO2 in the presence of each other
carbonate-silicate cycle: long-term cycle that sequesters Earth carbon
- weathering: changes in surface due to contact with atmosphere
carbonic acid:
- acidity (pH): measure of the activity of hydrogen ions in a solution
- carbonate system: system governing water and CO2 in the presence of each other
carbyne:
- methylidyne (CH): compound of one carbon and one hydrogen atom
Carina:
- Milky Way subgroup: the Milky Way and its satellites
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
Carina-Sagittarius Arm:
- spiral arm: long, winding visible structure within a spiral galaxy
Carl Sagan Institute (CSI): group researching finding life on other planets and moons
Carl Sagan Memorial Station:
- Mars Pathfinder (MPF): 1990s mission to Mars with rover
Carlsberg Meridian Catalogue (CMC): series of astrometric catalogs from 19th century on
Carlsberg Meridian Telescope:
- Carlsberg Meridian Catalogue (CMC): series of astrometric catalogs from 19th century on
CARMA:
- Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA): array of radio telescopes in eastern California
- Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO): group of radio telescopes in California near the VLBA
CARMA EDGE: CO survey of galaxies
CARMA Extragalactic Database for Galaxy Evolution:
- CARMA EDGE: CO survey of galaxies
Carnegie Institute for Science:
- Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP): survey of supernovae lightcurves
Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP): survey of supernovae lightcurves
Carrington event: solar storm September 1-3 1859
Cart du Ciel:
- Astrographic Catalog (AC): historical star catalog of the whole sky to magnitude 11
Cas:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
Cas A:
- Cassiopeia A: supernova remnant visible for 300 years
Case-Hamburg Survey (LS): 1950s-1970s survey(s) of OB stars
Cassegrain reflector: reflector telescope with convex secondary mirror
Cassegrain telescope:
- Cassegrain reflector: reflector telescope with convex secondary mirror
Cassini: explorer spacecraft sent to Saturn
- radio science: radar and other methods of using radio to probe planets and moons
Cassini Equinox:
- Cassini: explorer spacecraft sent to Saturn
Cassini Solstice:
- Cassini: explorer spacecraft sent to Saturn
Cassini-Huygens:
- Cassini: explorer spacecraft sent to Saturn
Cassiopeia A: supernova remnant visible for 300 years
CaSSIS:
- Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO): ESA and Russian Mars orbiter-probe launched in 2016
Castro: hydrodynamics simulation software
casually connection regions:
- inflation: theorized rapid expansion of the very early universe
CAT:
- Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope (CAT): 1990s interferometer to measure CMB variations
cataclysmic variable:
- cataclysmic variable star (CV): star whose magnitude is much brighter on occasion
cataclysmic variable star (CV): star whose magnitude is much brighter on occasion
- variable star: star that varies in magnitude
Catalina Real-time Transient Survey:
- Catalina Sky Survey (CSS): survey of near-Earth objects
Catalina Sky Survey (CSS): survey of near-Earth objects
catalog:
- 87GB Catalog of Radio Sources (87GB): 1980s Green Bank radio survey
- Abell Catalog: galaxy cluster catalog assembled over 1950s-1980s
- Aitken Double Star Catalogue (ADS): 1932 catalog with both multiple-star systems and non-orbiting double stars
- All-Sky Compiled Catalogue (ASCC,ASCC-2.5): 2001 catalog compiled from modern sources
- Arakelian Catalog (Ark): 1970s list of small/bright galaxies
- Arecibo General Catalog (AGC): catalog of galaxies to support ALFALFA surveys
- Arecibo Occultation Survey (AO): 1960s radio survey using occultations by the Moon
- Arp-Madore Catalog of Southern Peculiar Galaxies (AM): 1970s-1980s catalog from the UK Schmidt Survey
- Asiago Supernova Catalog (B/SN): 1999 catalog of known supernovae and their galaxies
- Astrographic Catalog (AC): historical star catalog of the whole sky to magnitude 11
- astronomical catalog: lists of observed astronomical bodies and their characteristics
- Astronomische Gesellschaft Katalog (AGK): 19th/20th century astrometric catalog
- Atlas of Galactic Nebulae (GN): 1980s catalog of Milky-Way nebulae
- Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies (APG): 1960s catalog-book with photos
- ATNF Pulsar Catalogue: online catalog of pulsars
- Barnard Catalog (Barnard,B): 1919 catalog of dark nebulae
- Basel Open Cluster Catalogue (Basel): list of open clusters
- Becker, White, and Edwards Catalog (BWE): 1990s radio catalog from a Green Bank 300ft Telescope survey
- Berkeley Open Cluster Catalogue (Be): list of open clusters
- Bibliographic Catalog of Variable Stars (BCVS): listing of references to variable stars
- Bonner Durchmusterung Catalog (BD): well-known astrometric catalog from late 1800s
- Boss General Catalog (GC): 1937 catalog of 30,000 stars
- Bright Star Catalog (HR,BS,YBS): early 20th century catalog of 9000 stars
- Burnham Double Star Catalogue (BDS,BU): 1906 catalog with multiple star systems and non-orbiting double stars
- Caldwell Catalog: small catalog for amateur astronomers as an adjunct to the Messier Catalog
- Cambridge Catalog of Radio Sources (C): series of catalogs of northern hemisphere sources
- Carlsberg Meridian Catalogue (CMC): series of astrometric catalogs from 19th century on
- Catalog of Azzopardi & Vigneau (AzV): probable stars in the SMC
- Catalog of Circumpolar Stars (Groombridge): list of over 4000 stars in northern part of the sky
- Catalog of Components of Double and Multiple Stars (CCDM): 1994 catalog of 74000 such double-star components
- Catalog of Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies (CGCG): list of galaxies/clusters assembled in 1960s
- Catalog of Infrared Observations (CIO): collection of infrared observation data from numerous sources
- Catalog of Stellar Identifications (CSI): 1970s catalog cross referencing existing star catalogs
- Catalogue of Cometary Orbits (CCO): comet catalog updated since 1970s
- Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae (PK,PK67): 1967 catalog
- Catalogue of Interacting Galaxies (VV): begun in the 1950s
- Catalogue of Southern Double Stars: 1955 catalog with multiple star systems and non-orbiting double stars
- Catalogues of Fundamental Stars: series of astrometric catalogs from 19th century on
- Cederblad Catalog (Ced): list of bright nebulae
- Collinder Catalog (Cr): 1930s catalog of 471 open clusters
- Cosmic Lens All-sky Survey (CLASS): radio survey aimed at gravitational lenses
- CRATES: catalog of 8.4 GHz data on radio sources
- Czernik Catalog (Cz): list of open clusters
- David Dunlap Observatory Catalog (DDO): catalog of dwarf galaxies
- Dickel-Wendker-Bieritz Catalog (DWB): list of HII regions in the Cygnus X star forming region
- Dolidze-Dzimselejsvili Catalogue (DoDz): list of 11 open clusters
- Dunlop Double Star Catalogue (DUN): 1829 catalog of double stars viewed from Australia
- Duus-Newell catalog (DN): list of southern galaxies/clusters assembled in 1970s
- ESO/Uppsala Survey of the ESO (B) Atlas: 1970s southern all-sky survey
- Fairall Galaxy List (Frl,Fairall): 1977 list of galaxies with bright nuclei
- Fourth Cambridge Catalog of Radio Sources (4C): 1960s catalog of northern hemisphere 178 MHz sources
- Frank Ross's Catalog (Ross): high-proper-motion and variable stars catalogued by Frank Ross
- Galactic O Star Catalog (GOSC,GOS): 2000s catalog of O-type stars
- General Catalog of Trigonometric Parallaxes (GCTP): 1950s star catalog with later updates
- General Catalogue of Stellar Radial Velocities (GCRV): 1950s century catalog of 1500 stars with radial velocities
- General Catalogue of Trigonometric Parallaxes (GCTP): 1950s catalog of stars with parallax measures
- General Catalogue of Variable Stars (GCVS): 20th/21st century catalog of 58000 variable stars
- Gliese Catalogue of Nearby Stars (Gl,Gliese): 1950s catalog of stars within 20 parsecs
- Gliese-Jahreiss Catalog (GJ): 1991 catalog of stars within 25 parsecs
- Green Bank 6-cm Radio Source Catalog (GB6): catalog of from 1980s northern-hemisphere radio survey
- Guide Star Catalog (GSC,HSTGC): catalog of stars to help aim HST
- Henry Draper Catalog (HD): early 20th century spectroscopic catalog of stars
- Herschel Double Star Catalog (H): series of early double star catalogs
- Herz catalog (Herz): list of 3000 stars in a strip of the southern sky
- Index Catalog (IC): 1895 catalog of galaxies, star clusters, and other nebulae
- ITEP-SAI Supernova Light Curve Catalogue: online catalog
- King Catalog: list of 21 open clusters
- Lépine Shara Proper Motion catalog (LSPM): 2000s catalog of stars with proper motion
- Lacaille Star Catalog (Lac): 1700s catalog of about 10,000 southern hemisphere stars
- Lowell Proper Motion Survey (G): 1950s-1970s catalogs of stars with proper motion
- Luyten Double Star Survey (LDS): 1940s-1970s catalog of double stars
- Luyten Half-second Catalog (LHS): 1979 catalog of 4000 stars with high proper motion
- Luyten Palomar Survey (LP): 1960s catalog of stars with high proper motion
- Luyten Two-Tenths Arcsecond Catalog (LTT): 1960 catalog of 9000+ stars with proper motion
- Lynds Catalog of Dark Nebulae (LDN,L): 1950s/1960s list of dark nebulae found on Palomar plates
- Lynds Catalogue of Bright Nebulae (LBN): 1950s/1960s list of bright nebulae found on Palomar plates
- MASH Catalog of Planetary Nebulae: 995 possible planetary nebulae
- Max Wolf's catalog of stars with proper motion: early 20th century catalog of 1500 stars
- Melotte Catalog: 1915 catalog of open and globular clusters
- Messier Catalog (M): catalog of astronomical objects to avoid when looking for comets
- MIT X-ray Burst Source Catalog (MXB): 1970s catalog of X-ray bursters
- Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies (MCG): 1960s catalog from Palomar plates
- New Catalogue of Suspected Variable Stars (NSV): catalog from latter half of 20th century catalog
- New General Catalogue (NGC): 1888 catalog of galaxies, star clusters, and other nebulae
- NOMAD: astrometric star catalog
- Ohio Radio Survey (OSS): 1960s radio survey by Ohio State University
- Palomar Globular Clusters (Pal): list of 15 globular clusters found in POSS plates
- Pantheon: catalog of well-checked Type Ia supernovae
- Parkes Catalog (PKS): catalog of from 1960s-1990 of radio sources in southern hemisphere
- Parsamian Nebula Catalog: 1965 list of nebulae
- Polar-ring Catalog (PRC): 1990 catalog of polar-ring galaxies
- PPM Star Catalogue: 1991 astrometric catalog with proper motions
- Principal Galaxies Catalog (PGC): modern catalog of more than 70k galaxies
- Radcliffe Observatory Magellanic Clouds Catalogue (RMC): catalog of stars in
- RASS/Green Bank Catalog (RGB,RASSGB): combined list of radio galaxies from Rosat and Green Bank surveys
- Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies (RC,RC1): series of catalogs of nearby galaxies
- Roma-BZCAT: 2008 catalog of blazars
- SAO Star Catalog: 1960s catalog
- Shapley-Ames Catalog (SAC): 1932 catalog of contemporary data on 1249 galaxies
- Sharpless Catalog (Sh2): catalog of HII regions found on Palomar plates
- Spectroscopic Properties of Cool Stars (SPOCS): analysis of spectroscopic data of 7000+ M and L stars
- Strasbourg-ESO Catalog of Galactic Planetary Nebulae (PNG): 1992 catalog of 1820 objects
- Struve Catalogs: two catalogs of double stars
- Texas Survey of Radio Sources at 365 MHz (TXS): 1970s/1970s radio survey made with the Texas Interferometer
- Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources (3C): 1959 catalog of northern hemisphere 159MHz sources
- Transient Name Server (TNS): online catalog of transients
- Uppsala General Catalogue (UGC): 1973 catalog of galaxies visible from northern hemisphere
- USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC): USNO star catalog including proper motions
- USS Sources: catalog of sources with steep spectral index
- Van Den Bergh Reflection Nebula Catalog (vdB): catalog of reflection nebulae found in POSS plates
- Villanova White Dwarf Catalog: ongoing catalog of white dwarfs
- Virgo Cluster Catalog (VCC): 1980s catalog of 2000 galaxies
- Washington Double Star Catalog (WDS): modern database of double stars
- WISeREP: interactive catalog of supernovae
Catalog of Azzopardi & Vigneau (AzV): probable stars in the SMC
Catalog of Circumpolar Stars (Groombridge): list of over 4000 stars in northern part of the sky
Catalog of Components of Double and Multiple Stars (CCDM): 1994 catalog of 74000 such double-star components
Catalog of Dark Nebulae:
- Lynds Catalog of Dark Nebulae (LDN,L): 1950s/1960s list of dark nebulae found on Palomar plates
Catalog of Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies (CGCG): list of galaxies/clusters assembled in 1960s
Catalog of Infrared Observations (CIO): collection of infrared observation data from numerous sources
Catalog of Nearby Stars:
- Gliese Catalogue of Nearby Stars (Gl,Gliese): 1950s catalog of stars within 20 parsecs
Catalog of Stellar Identifications (CSI): 1970s catalog cross referencing existing star catalogs
catalog-based designator:
- survey-based designator: astronomical object designators based on name of survey
catalogs:
- Astrocats: software to create and manage an astronomy catalog
- astronomical catalog: lists of observed astronomical bodies and their characteristics
catalogue:
- astronomical catalog: lists of observed astronomical bodies and their characteristics
Catalogue des Nebuleuses et des Amas d'Etoiles:
- Messier Catalog (M): catalog of astronomical objects to avoid when looking for comets
Catalogue of Bright Nebulae:
- Lynds Catalogue of Bright Nebulae (LBN): 1950s/1960s list of bright nebulae found on Palomar plates
Catalogue of Cometary Nebulae Discovered on Palomar Maps:
- Parsamian Nebula Catalog: 1965 list of nebulae
Catalogue of Cometary Orbits (CCO): comet catalog updated since 1970s
Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae (PK,PK67): 1967 catalog
Catalogue of Interacting Galaxies (VV): begun in the 1950s
Catalogue of Nearby Stars:
- Gliese-Jahreiss Catalog (GJ): 1991 catalog of stars within 25 parsecs
Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars:
- New General Catalogue (NGC): 1888 catalog of galaxies, star clusters, and other nebulae
Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters:
- Messier Catalog (M): catalog of astronomical objects to avoid when looking for comets
- nebula: cloud of dust and gas
Catalogue of Rich Clusters of Galaxies:
- Abell Catalog: galaxy cluster catalog assembled over 1950s-1980s
Catalogue of Southern Double Stars: 1955 catalog with multiple star systems and non-orbiting double stars
Catalogues of Fundamental Stars: series of astrometric catalogs from 19th century on
Catalogus Britannicus:
- Flamsteed designation: star designation system dating from 1700s
cation:
- ion: non-neutral atom or molecule, with missing or extra electrons
CATS345:
- Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE): ten meter submillimeter telescope in Chile
caustic structure:
- core-cusp problem: theories and observation show different dwarf galaxy rotation curves
cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS): passing a beam through a gas multiple times to amplify absorption lines
CB:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CBB:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CBI:
- Cosmic Background Imager (CBI): radio telescope in Chile observing the CMB
- Llano de Chajnantor Observatory: group of observatories on a high plateau of the Atacama Desert
CBR:
- cosmic background radiation (CBR): electromagnetic radiation coming from every direction
- cosmic gamma ray background (CGB): gamma-ray radiation seen everywhere
- cosmic infrared background (CIB,CIBR): widespread infrared radiation not associated with known sources
- cosmic microwave background (CMB,CMBR,CBR,MBR): microwave radiation coming from every direction
- cosmic optical background (COB): widespread optical radiation not associated with known sources
- cosmic X-ray background (CXB,CXRB,CXBR): X-ray radiation coming from outside the Milky Way
- diffuse emission: electromagnetic radiation not confined to a point source
- extragalactic background light (EBL): electromagnetic radiation from star formation and AGNs
CC:
- candidate companion (CC): possible object apparently orbiting a known object
CCAT: 25-meter submillimeter telescope plan for Chile
- Atacama Desert: high altitude, dry plateau in Chile, the site of observatories
- Llano de Chajnantor Observatory: group of observatories on a high plateau of the Atacama Desert
CCAT-p:
- Atacama Desert: high altitude, dry plateau in Chile, the site of observatories
- Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST,CCAT-p): planned 6-meter submillimeter telescope in Chile
CCAT-prime:
- Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST,CCAT-p): planned 6-meter submillimeter telescope in Chile
CCCP:
- Canadian Cluster Comparison Project (CCCP): multi-wavelength survey of fifty X-ray-selected galaxy clusters
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CCCS:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CCD: electronic device to detect light
- ACIS: imaging spectrometer on Chandra X-ray telescope
- color-color diagram (CCD): means of comparing characteristics of stars
- parts per million (PPM): method of expressing a small ratio
- photometry: studying starlight through bandpass filters
- quantum efficiency (QE): measure of instrument's ability to sense EMR
CCD photometry:
- photometry: studying starlight through bandpass filters
CCDM:
- Catalog of Components of Double and Multiple Stars (CCDM): 1994 catalog of 74000 such double-star components
CCDs:
- integration time: time required to acquire signal
CCO:
- Catalogue of Cometary Orbits (CCO): comet catalog updated since 1970s
- compact object (CO): dense astronomical body such as white dwarf or denser
CCS:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CCSN:
- core collapse supernova (CCSN): supernova resulting from the collapse of the core of a star
cD:
- Bonner Durchmusterung Catalog (BD): well-known astrometric catalog from late 1800s
- giant elliptical galaxy: very large elliptical galaxy generally at a galaxy cluster's center
cD galaxy:
- elliptical galaxy: ellipsoidal-shaped galaxy
- giant elliptical galaxy: very large elliptical galaxy generally at a galaxy cluster's center
CDA:
- Cassini: explorer spacecraft sent to Saturn
CDF-N:
- Chandra Deep Field North (CDFN,CDF-N): X-ray deep survey encompassing HDF region
CDF-North:
- Chandra Deep Field North (CDFN,CDF-N): X-ray deep survey encompassing HDF region
CDF-S:
- Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS,CDF-S): X-ray deep survey encompassing HDF-South region
- Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (SERVS): infrared survey of some well-studied fields
CDF-South:
- Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS,CDF-S): X-ray deep survey encompassing HDF-South region
CDFN:
- Chandra Deep Field North (CDFN,CDF-N): X-ray deep survey encompassing HDF region
CDFS:
- Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS,CDF-S): X-ray deep survey encompassing HDF-South region
- FourStar Galaxy Evolution Survey (ZFOURGE,Z-FOURGE): infrared deep-survey to detect galaxies
CDISORT:
- DISORT: simulation of radiative transfer in an atmosphere
CDM:
- Bonner Durchmusterung Catalog (BD): well-known astrometric catalog from late 1800s
- cold dark matter (CDM): one of three types of "dark matter" theory
- dark matter: matter suggested by gravity in galaxies and galaxy clusters
- fuzzy dark matter (FDM): concept of extremely light dark matter particles
CDPP:
- combined differential photometric precision (CDPP): calculated relation of photometric variation to SNR
CDS:
- Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS): repository of astronomical data
- SIMBAD: online database of astronomical objects
- Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO): satellite observing the Sun
CDSCC:
- NASA Deep Space Network (NASA DSN,DSN): NASA's world-wide radio communication setup
CE:
- chemical equilibrium (CE): state where chemical makeup is unchanging
- post-common envelope binary (PCEB): binary star system showing unusual stellar evolution
CE1:
- Cosmic Explorer: concept for a very large LIGO-like GW detector
CE2:
- Cosmic Explorer: concept for a very large LIGO-like GW detector
CEA:
- CEA Service d'Astrophysique (CEA SAp): French national astrophysics research institute
CEA SAp:
- CEA Service d'Astrophysique (CEA SAp): French national astrophysics research institute
CEA Service d'Astrophysique (CEA SAp): French national astrophysics research institute
CEAS:
- cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS): passing a beam through a gas multiple times to amplify absorption lines
CEB:
- common envelope: binary star system surrounded by a single gas cloud
- post-common envelope binary (PCEB): binary star system showing unusual stellar evolution
CEBE:
- common envelope: binary star system surrounded by a single gas cloud
- post-common envelope binary (PCEB): binary star system showing unusual stellar evolution
Ced:
- Cederblad Catalog (Ced): list of bright nebulae
Cederblad:
- Cederblad Catalog (Ced): list of bright nebulae
Cederblad Catalog (Ced): list of bright nebulae
CEDUNA:
- Long Baseline Array (LBA): radio interferometer using Australian telescopes
CEL:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
celestial body:
- astronomical object: planet, star, galaxy, etc.
celestial coordinate system: system for specifying position of celestial objects
celestial coordinates:
- celestial coordinate system: system for specifying position of celestial objects
celestial equator: equator-like line around the celestial sphere
celestial event: generally something happening visible in the sky
celestial mechanics: study of forces and motion of celestial objects
- apsis: closest or furthest point in an eccentric orbit
- corotation resonance (CR): an orbital resonance with the same frequency as the orbit
- disk: rotating disk-shaped object such as disk galaxy or circumstellar disk
- eccentricity (e): degree to which an orbit is non-circular
- Hill stability: planetary orbits which will remain in the same order
- Kozai mechanism: an effect on an orbit by another, more distant orbiting body
- Lagrange stability: a quality of some stable orbits
- Lie transform: type of infinitesimal transform
- orbital element: parameters describing an orbit
- orbital period: length of time for an orbiting object to complete one cycle
- orbital resonance: tendency of orbits of multiple bodies to remain in a simple pattern
- orbital speed: speed of an orbiting body around the barycenter of a system
- period derivative: rate of change in the period of an orbit or rotation
- projected semi-major axis: semi-major axis projected onto line-of-sight or plane of the sky
- Q factor: measure of oscillator's damping
- semi-major axis (a): maximum radius of an ellipse
- synchronous orbit: orbit with angular velocity matching the rotation of the orbited body
celestial meridian: celestial sphere's meridian passing overhead
- meridian: circle around the Earth passing through both poles
- transit: a celestial body passing between another and an observer
celestial north pole:
- celestial equator: equator-like line around the celestial sphere
- celestial pole: point within the celestial sphere aligned with Earth's rotation axis
celestial object:
- astronomical object: planet, star, galaxy, etc.
celestial pole: point within the celestial sphere aligned with Earth's rotation axis
- celestial equator: equator-like line around the celestial sphere
- celestial meridian: celestial sphere's meridian passing overhead
celestial south pole:
- celestial equator: equator-like line around the celestial sphere
- celestial pole: point within the celestial sphere aligned with Earth's rotation axis
celestial sphere: the sky in considered as a sphere surrounding the observer
- appulse: moment of apparent nearest distance of observed bodies
- celestial coordinate system: system for specifying position of celestial objects
- celestial equator: equator-like line around the celestial sphere
- celestial meridian: celestial sphere's meridian passing overhead
- celestial pole: point within the celestial sphere aligned with Earth's rotation axis
- declination (dec): direction coordinate above/below celestial equator
- ecliptic: path of the Sun on the celestial sphere as seen from Earth
- ecliptic coordinate system: celestial coordinate system system based upon Earth's orbital plane
- epoch: when an object was at a particular set of celestial coordinates
- equatorial coordinate system: latitude/longitude-like system for the celestial sphere
- equinox: times when tilt of Earth is neither toward or away from the Sun
- galactic anticenter: direction opposite the galactic center
- galactic coordinate system (GCS): celestial coordinate system system based upon the galactic plane
- galactic north: direction perpendicular to the galactic plane that's north of Earth's equator
- horizontal coordinate system: celestial coordinate system based upon horizon and north
- International Celestial Reference System (ICRS): standardized variation of equatorial coordinate system
- north galactic pole: determination of the more northern direction of the Milky Way's axis
- position angle (PA): indication of a direction across the celestial sphere
- right ascension (RA): direction coordinate along celestial equator
- solar apex: direction that the Sun is moving compared to nearby stars
- supergalactic coordinate system: celestial coordinate system system based upon the supergalactic plane
- zenith: spot on the sky directly above something
CELIAS:
- Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO): satellite observing the Sun
cell:
- Hadley cell: circulation pattern of up at the equator, poleward, down, and back
- zonal flow: east-west air circulation
- zone: apparent "horizontal" band in an atmosphere
Celsius:
- kelvin (K): temperature scale starting at absolute zero
CELT:
- California Extremely Large Telescope (CELT): concept for an extremely large telescope
CEMP:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
CEMP-no:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
CEMP-r:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
CEMP-r/s:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
CEMP-s:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
centaur: asteroid-like body orbiting among the outer planets
- 10199 Chariklo: largest minor planet in the outer solar system
Centaur rocket stage:
- LCROSS: space probe observing the lunar poles
centaurs:
- minor planet: lesser solar system body without comet characteristics
Centaurus:
- Sloan Great Wall (SGW): large slab of galaxies discovered in SDSS
Centaurus A:
- Council of Giants: twelve large galaxies surrounding the Local Group
Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University:
- Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics (ITA): Heidelberg research institute
Center for Astrophysics (CfA): Harvard and Smithsonian research and education organization
- CfA Redshift Survey: 1970s-1990s surveys of galaxy redshifts
Center for Astrophysics Redshift Survey:
- CfA Redshift Survey: 1970s-1990s surveys of galaxy redshifts
Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy:
- CHARA: optical interferometer
center of gravity:
- barycenter: center of mass of two orbiting bodies
center of mass:
- barycenter: center of mass of two orbiting bodies
- reduced mass: the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of the masses of two objects
center of mass frame of reference:
- barycenter: center of mass of two orbiting bodies
center of the Milky Way:
- galactic center: region at the middle of the Milky Way
centigrade:
- kelvin (K): temperature scale starting at absolute zero
centimeter size barrier:
- barrier: challenging issue regarding planet formation
centimeter-gram-second system:
- CGS: metric system variant
centimeter-wave astronomy:
- radio astronomy: astronomy observation and analysis of radio EMR
central body:
- primary: central body of a system such as the Sun in the solar system
central compact object:
- compact object (CO): dense astronomical body such as white dwarf or denser
central limit theorem:
- Gaussian function: function producing the bell curve
central peak:
- complex crater: crater with central high-point
central star of the planetary nebula:
- planetary nebula (PN): gas shell ejected by a red giant
Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS): repository of astronomical data
- SIMBAD: online database of astronomical objects
Centre national d'ètudes spatiales (CNES): French space agency
CEP:
- Cepheid variable (CEP): type of star that varies with a constant period
Cepheid:
- Cepheid variable (CEP): type of star that varies with a constant period
Cepheid variable (CEP): type of star that varies with a constant period
- pulsating star: variable star that varies through energy pulses
Ceres: dwarf planet and largest asteroid
- asteroid: minor planet without comet characteristics
- Dawn: explorer spacecraft sent to asteroids Vesta and Ceres
- dwarf planet: round like a planet, only smaller
- facula: bright spot on a planet or the Sun
- planet: round object orbiting a star that clears out its own orbital path
- protoplanet: simplest, least-developed object classified as a planet
- Titius-Bode law: relationship between the distances between solar system planets
Cerro Armazones Observatory:
- European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT,ELT): 39-meter telescope under construction
Cerro Chajnantor:
- Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST,CCAT-p): planned 6-meter submillimeter telescope in Chile
- Llano de Chajnantor Observatory: group of observatories on a high plateau of the Atacama Desert
Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope:
- CCAT: 25-meter submillimeter telescope plan for Chile
Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope, prime:
- Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST,CCAT-p): planned 6-meter submillimeter telescope in Chile
Cerro Pachón:
- Gemini Observatory: pair of telescopes in Hawaii and Chile
Cerro Paranal:
- Paranal Observatory: ESO Atacama observatory with ESO VLT
Cerro Toco:
- Llano de Chajnantor Observatory: group of observatories on a high plateau of the Atacama Desert
Cerro Tololo:
- All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN,ASASSN): survey of both hemispheres for supernovae
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO): NOAO observatory in Chile with Blanco telescope
- Calán/Tololo Survey: late 1980s to early 1990s search to redshift 0.1
- CTIO Upper-Scorpius OB Association Survey (UScoCTIO): survey of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs
- Dark Energy Survey (DES): survey aimed at mapping the universe's expansion
- DECaLS: survey imaging part of SDSS footprint with DECam
- Deep Lens Survey (DLS): investigating mass distribution of the universe
- Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO): NRAO observatory in Arizona with Mayall telescope
- Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC): optical/NIR survey of four deep fields
- National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO): US optical astronomy organization
- NOAO Deep Wide-field Survey (NDWFS): survey investigating large scale structure of the universe
- SOAR: 4.1 m reflector telescope in Chile
- USNO Twin Astrograph: USNO astrograph deployed in 1970
- Víctor M. Blanco Telescope: 4 m reflector telescope in Chile
CERTO:
- ARGOS: 1999 technology-research satellite
CES:
- ESO 3.6m Telescope: reflector telescope at La Silla
CfA:
- Astrophysics Data System (ADS): website with astrophysics bibliography and paper archive
- Center for Astrophysics (CfA): Harvard and Smithsonian research and education organization
- CfA Redshift Survey: 1970s-1990s surveys of galaxy redshifts
CfA Redshift Survey: 1970s-1990s surveys of galaxy redshifts
- Great Wall: large slab of galaxies
CfA1 Survey:
- CfA Redshift Survey: 1970s-1990s surveys of galaxy redshifts
CfA2 Great Wall:
- Great Wall: large slab of galaxies
CfA2 Survey:
- CfA Redshift Survey: 1970s-1990s surveys of galaxy redshifts
CFBD:
- CFBDS: survey in search of brown dwarfs
CFBDS: survey in search of brown dwarfs
CFBDSIR:
- CFBDS: survey in search of brown dwarfs
CFD:
- lattice Boltzmann method (LBM): computational fluid dynamics method treating the fluid as particles
CFH12k:
- Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT): 3.6 meter optical/infrared telescope in Hawaii
- Canadian Cluster Comparison Project (CCCP): multi-wavelength survey of fifty X-ray-selected galaxy clusters
CFHQS:
- Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey (CFHQS): 2000s distant quasar survey
CFHT:
- Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey (CFHQS): 2000s distant quasar survey
- Canada-France Redshift Survey (CFRS): 1990s survey of galaxies to z = 1 to find associations of redshift to characteristics
- Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT): 3.6 meter optical/infrared telescope in Hawaii
- Canadian Cluster Comparison Project (CCCP): multi-wavelength survey of fifty X-ray-selected galaxy clusters
- CFHTLS: surveys of transients and stars
- Mauna Kea: Hawaiian mountain, the site of observatories
- Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO): observatories on Mauna Kea in Hawaii
- Multi-Epoch Nearby Cluster Survey (MENeaCS): Type Ia supernova survey in clusters at z = 0.1
- Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS): survey searching for trans-Neptune objects
- PAndAS: survey of M31 and M33
- SPIRou: CFHT spectropolarimeter for exoplanet research
- Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS): detect and monitor supernovae to measure the effects of dark energy
CFHTLS: surveys of transients and stars
CFL condition:
- finite difference method (FDM): means of estimating calculus and differential equation solutions
CFRS:
- Canada-France Redshift Survey (CFRS): 1990s survey of galaxies to z = 1 to find associations of redshift to characteristics
CFS:
- Astrographic Catalog (AC): historical star catalog of the whole sky to magnitude 11
CFT:
- conformal field theory (CFT): a type of quantum field theory
CG:
- barycenter: center of mass of two orbiting bodies
- Bok globule: dense molecular cloud
- dwarf galaxy: small galaxy with a few billion stars
CGB:
- cosmic background radiation (CBR): electromagnetic radiation coming from every direction
- cosmic gamma ray background (CGB): gamma-ray radiation seen everywhere
CGCG:
- Catalog of Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies (CGCG): list of galaxies/clusters assembled in 1960s
CGCS:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CGI:
- Roman Space Telescope (RST,WFIRST): proposed near-infrared space observatory
CGM:
- circumgalactic medium (CGM): gas surrounding a galaxy
CGO:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CGRO:
- Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO,GRO): 1990s space observatory for gamma ray observation
CGS: metric system variant
- erg: CGS unit of energy
- gauss (G,Gs): measurement of magnetic field β
- magnetic flux (Φ): total magnetism passing through a surface
- magnetic flux density (B): vector field describing magnetism in relation to the Lorentz force
- SI: modern metric system
CGS4:
- United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT): Mauna Kea 3.8 meter infrared telescope
CGSS:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CH:
- Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME,CH): radio telescope mapping distant neutral hydrogen
- methylidyne (CH): compound of one carbon and one hydrogen atom
CH star:
- chemically peculiar star (CP star): star with SED showing presence metals unusual for stars
- methylidyne (CH): compound of one carbon and one hydrogen atom
CH₃D:
- methane (CH₄): compound of one carbon and 4 hydrogen atoms
CH₄:
- methane (CH₄): compound of one carbon and 4 hydrogen atoms
Chabrier IMF:
- initial mass function (IMF): function describing initial mass of stars
CHAI:
- CCAT: 25-meter submillimeter telescope plan for Chile
- Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST,CCAT-p): planned 6-meter submillimeter telescope in Chile
Chajnantor Observatory:
- Llano de Chajnantor Observatory: group of observatories on a high plateau of the Atacama Desert
Chajnantor Plateau:
- Llano de Chajnantor Observatory: group of observatories on a high plateau of the Atacama Desert
Challenger:
- SPARTAN: series of astronomy satellites launched/retrieved by space shuttle
Chandler Wobble:
- photographic zenith tube (PZT): telescope permanently mounted to the zenith
Chandra:
- ACIS: imaging spectrometer on Chandra X-ray telescope
- Chandra Deep Field North (CDFN,CDF-N): X-ray deep survey encompassing HDF region
- Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS,CDF-S): X-ray deep survey encompassing HDF-South region
- Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO): space X-ray telescope
- Extended Chandra Deep Field-South Survey (ECDFS): 1100 square arcminute X-ray survey
- GOODS: survey combining data from different sources on very distant objects
Chandra Carina Complex Project:
- Canadian Cluster Comparison Project (CCCP): multi-wavelength survey of fifty X-ray-selected galaxy clusters
Chandra COSMOS Survey:
- Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): investigation of dark matter and the universe's large scale structure
Chandra Deep Field North (CDFN,CDF-N): X-ray deep survey encompassing HDF region
Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS,CDF-S): X-ray deep survey encompassing HDF-South region
- Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (SERVS): infrared survey of some well-studied fields
Chandra Deep Fields:
- Chandra Deep Field North (CDFN,CDF-N): X-ray deep survey encompassing HDF region
Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO): space X-ray telescope
- ACIS: imaging spectrometer on Chandra X-ray telescope
Chandrasekhar friction:
- dynamical friction: drag produced by gravitational interaction with surrounding objects
Chandrasekhar limit: maximum mass of a white dwarf
ChaNGa:
- N-body simulation: simulation of many objects gravitationally-bound to each other
chaos:
- Lyapunov time: timescale over which a dynamical system is chaotic
chaos theory: theory of systems highly sensitive to initial conditions
CHARA: optical interferometer
- optical interferometer: interferometer of visible light
characteristic age:
- pulsar characteristic age (τ): approximate age determination of a pulsar based upon rotation rate
characteristic magnetic field:
- pulsar characteristic age (τ): approximate age determination of a pulsar based upon rotation rate
characteristic strain:
- gravitational wave strain (h): a measure of the magnitude of a gravitational wave
Characterizing Exoplanet Satellite:
- CHEOPS: space telescope in development to measure radii of exoplanets
charge:
- quantum number: number representing a conserved quantity
charge barrier:
- barrier: challenging issue regarding planet formation
- electrostatic barrier: the problem that dust grains will repel and not join to form planet seeds
charge exchange:
- atmospheric escape: escape of gas particles from a planet's atmosphere
charge-coupled device:
- CCD: electronic device to detect light
- quantum efficiency (QE): measure of instrument's ability to sense EMR
charged black hole:
- black hole model: description of a BH using math or computation
charged particles:
- spark chamber: type of ion detector
Chariklo:
- 10199 Chariklo: largest minor planet in the outer solar system
CHARIS:
- Subaru Telescope: 8.2 meter telescope in Hawaii
charm quark:
- particle: very small thing
- quark: type of elementary particle incorporated in protons and neutrons
- standard model: model of elementary particles including quarks
Charon:
- Earth: third solar system planet from the Sun
- moon: a planet's natural satellite, such as Earth's
- Pluto: dwarf planet formerly listed as one of the nine planets
- synchronous orbit: orbit with angular velocity matching the rotation of the orbited body
CHE:
- double star designation: Systems and format of double star designators
ChemCam:
- Mars Science Laboratory (MSL): mission to Mars with rover
chemical composition:
- abundances: relative amounts of each chemical element
chemical composition of the universe:
- abundances: relative amounts of each chemical element
chemical differentiation:
- atmosphere: gas surrounding astronomical object
chemical element:
- element: class of atom based on its number of protons
chemical equilibrium (CE): state where chemical makeup is unchanging
chemical evolution:
- abundances: relative amounts of each chemical element
chemical kinetics:
- chemical equilibrium (CE): state where chemical makeup is unchanging
chemical species:
- reduction potential (E_h,ORP,pE): measure of a chemical species' tendency to acquire electrons
chemically peculiar:
- chemically peculiar star (CP star): star with SED showing presence metals unusual for stars
chemically peculiar star (CP star): star with SED showing presence metals unusual for stars
chemisorption:
- adsorption: adhesion to a surface
chemistry:
- abiotic oxygen: oxygen from non-life sources
- abundances: relative amounts of each chemical element
- acetylene (C₂H₂): compound of two carbon and two hydrogen atoms
- acidity (pH): measure of the activity of hydrogen ions in a solution
- adsorption: adhesion to a surface
- amine: type of compound containing nitrogen
- ammonia (NH₃): particular compound of nitrogen and hydrogen
- atomic number (Z): number of protons in an atomic nucleus
- Avogadro's number (N_A): roughly number of hydrogen atoms in a gram
- bulk density: total mass divided by total volume
- calcium (Ca): element, Ca, atomic number 20
- carbon (C): element, C, atomic number 6
- carbon dioxide (CO₂): compound of carbon atom and two oxygen atoms
- carbon monoxide (CO): compound of carbon and oxygen, one atom each
- carbonate system: system governing water and CO2 in the presence of each other
- carbonate-silicate cycle: long-term cycle that sequesters Earth carbon
- chemical equilibrium (CE): state where chemical makeup is unchanging
- chemodynamics: study of the dynamics of chemical reactions
- clathrate: crystal lattice with voids that can trap molecules
- diffusion: the spreading of particles toward an even distribution
- electron shell: radius-level around an atomic nucleus at which electrons can orbit
- element: class of atom based on its number of protons
- energetic neutral atom (ENA): high-speed neutral atom
- equilibrium condensation model: chemical model explaining solar system planet abundances
- ethylene (C₂H₄): compound of two carbon and four hydrogen atoms
- fractionation: separation of compounds from a mixture
- fractionation factor: isotope quantity
- geochemistry: the chemistry of the Earth, planets, and moons
- glycine (Gly,G): smallest of the twenty common amino acids
- helium (He): non-metallic element, He, atomic number 2
- hydrocarbon (HC): any compound of just carbon and hydrogen
- hydrogen (H): most prominent element, atomic number 1
- hydroxyl (OH): neutral compound of hydrogen and oxygen, one atom each
- ice: solid state of water
- iron (Fe): metal, Fe, atomic number 26
- lithium (Li): metal, Li, atomic number 3
- magnesium (Mg): element, Mg, atomic number 12
- metallic hydrogen: a high-pressure state of hydrogen that is conductive
- methane (CH₄): compound of one carbon and 4 hydrogen atoms
- methylidyne (CH): compound of one carbon and one hydrogen atom
- Milky Way chemical evolution: process of the development of metals in the Milky Way
- mole (mol): unit roughly the count of hydrogen atoms in a gram
- molecular handedness: mirror-imaged variants of some molecules
- neon (Ne): element, Ne, atomic number 10
- nickel (Ni): metal, Ni, atomic number 28
- nitrite (NO₂^-): ion of a nitrogen atom and two oxygen atoms with extra electron
- nitrogen (N): metal, N, atomic number 7
- number density (n): number of objects per volume
- oxidation state: number of electrons loaned out by an atom in an ionic bond
- oxygen (O): element, O, atomic number 8
- PAH emissions: infrared emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in gas clouds
- particle number (N): number of particles
- photochemistry: study of the chemical effects of light
- photodissociation: chemical reaction in which photons break chemical bonds
- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH): hydrocarbons consisting of meshes of benzene rings
- potassium/thorium ratio (K/Th ratio): indication of thermal history
- radiolysis: similar to photodissociation from higher energy photons
- reducing atmosphere: atmosphere lacking oxygen or other oxidizers
- reduction potential (E_h,ORP,pE): measure of a chemical species' tendency to acquire electrons
- refractory material: material with high condensation temperature
- relativistic effect: a substantial fraction of the speed of light
- siderophile: material that dissolves in molten iron
- signatures of formation: qualities of a body that suggest how it was formed
- silicate: type of compound including silicon and oxygen
- silicon (Si): metal, Si, atomic number 14
- sodium (Na): metal, Na, atomic number 11
- SPECTRE: an interactive spectrum analysis software package
- stellar population: grouping of stars according to metallicity
- sulfur (S): metal, S, atomic number 16
- surface reaction: such as reactions between gas and adjacent liquid
- titration: analyzing a chemical solution by color change
- volatile material: material with low condensation temperature
- water activity (a_w): measure of partial vapor pressure of water
chemodynamics: study of the dynamics of chemical reactions
CHEOPS: space telescope in development to measure radii of exoplanets
Cherenkov cone:
- Cherenkov radiation: radiation from the shock of a charged particle passing through a medium
Cherenkov detector: type of high energy photon or particle detector
Cherenkov gamma-ray telescope:
- Cherenkov detector: type of high energy photon or particle detector
Cherenkov radiation: radiation from the shock of a charged particle passing through a medium
- Cherenkov detector: type of high energy photon or particle detector
Cherenkov telescope:
- Cherenkov detector: type of high energy photon or particle detector
Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA): ground gamma-ray telescope array in development
Chereul:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
Chi Draconis A:
- F-type star (F): spectral class of star a bit hotter than then Sun
chi-squared:
- chi-squared test (χ² test): statistical significance test
chi-squared test (χ² test): statistical significance test
Chile:
- Atacama B-Mode Search (ABS): 2012-2014 survey of the CMB
- Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): 6 meter microwave survey telescope in Chile
- Atacama Desert: high altitude, dry plateau in Chile, the site of observatories
- Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA): large radio telescope array in Chile
- Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX): 12-meter submillimeter telescope in Chile
- Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE): ten meter submillimeter telescope in Chile
- BlackGEM: telescope array in development to follow up gravitational wave signals
- Calán/Tololo Survey: late 1980s to early 1990s search to redshift 0.1
- CCAT: 25-meter submillimeter telescope plan for Chile
- Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO): NOAO observatory in Chile with Blanco telescope
- Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA): ground gamma-ray telescope array in development
- CMB Stage-4 (CMB-S4): planned 2020s-generation of ground CMB observations
- Cosmic Background Imager (CBI): radio telescope in Chile observing the CMB
- Dark Energy Survey (DES): survey aimed at mapping the universe's expansion
- DECaLS: survey imaging part of SDSS footprint with DECam
- ESO 3.6m Telescope: reflector telescope at La Silla
- European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT,ELT): 39-meter telescope under construction
- European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope (ESO VLT,VLT): four 8.2-meter optical telescopes in Chile that can act together
- Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST,CCAT-p): planned 6-meter submillimeter telescope in Chile
- Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT): 24.5 meter telescope under construction
- HARPS: high-precision spectrograph for exoplanet searches
- La Silla Observatory (LSO): Atacama-desert observatory run by ESO
- La Silla Paranal Observatory (LPO): manages three ESO observatory sites in Chile
- Las Campanas Observatory (LCO): observatory in southern Atacama Desert
- Llano de Chajnantor Observatory: group of observatories on a high plateau of the Atacama Desert
- Magellan Telescopes: pair of 6.5 m optical telescopes in Chile
- Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey (MCPS): UBVI survey of the Magellanic Clouds
- NANTEN2: millimeter telescope in Chile
- New Technology Telescope (NTT): 3.58-meter reflector telescope in Chile
- NGTS: survey of transits from Chile
- NIRPS: near-infrared extension to HARPS spectrograph
- Paranal Observatory: ESO Atacama observatory with ESO VLT
- POLARBEAR: instrument to map CMB polarization
- QUIET: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- Rubin Observatory (VRO,LSST): 8-meter survey reflector telescope under construction in Chile
- Simons Observatory (SO): CMB observatory on Atacama Desert
- SOAR: 4.1 m reflector telescope in Chile
- SPECULOOS: search for Earth-like exoplanets orbiting nearby dim stars
- Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope (SEST): former 15 m radio telescope array in Chile
- Swope Supernova Survey (SSS): survey of low-redshift Type Ia SN light curves
- TRAPPIST: ground-based automatic transiting planet finding telescope
- University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO): observatory for a 6.5 m infrared telescope under construction
- Víctor M. Blanco Telescope: 4 m reflector telescope in Chile
- VISTA: 4.1 meter telescope in Paranal Observatory in Chile
- VLT Survey Telescope (VST): survey telescope located at the VLT site
CHIME:
- Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME,CH): radio telescope mapping distant neutral hydrogen
- Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO): radio observatory in British Columbia, Canada
CHIMERA:
- atmospheric model: model to describe or simulate a planet's atmosphere
- Hale Telescope: 5.1 m reflector telescope in California
China:
- ARGO-YBJ Experiment: cosmic-ray/gamma-ray detector in Tibet
- FAST: Arecibo-like 500 m telescope in deployment in China
- LAMOST: Chinese telescope for spectroscopic surveys of stars and galaxies
CHIP:
- High Altitude Observatory (HAO): NCAR unit observing and monitoring the Sun
CHIPSat: small satellite to investigate ISM plasma
chiral EFT:
- effective field theory (EFT): type of useful simplification of a field theory
chirality:
- molecular handedness: mirror-imaged variants of some molecules
chirp: burst of signal rising or falling in frequency
chirp mass (M_c,ℳ): a reduced-mass-like quantity that relates to gravitational waves
chloride:
- geochemistry: the chemistry of the Earth, planets, and moons
chlorine:
- geochemistry: the chemistry of the Earth, planets, and moons
chondrite: stony meteorites showing no melting
chondrule:
- CAI: calcium/aluminum specs in chondrites
- chondrite: stony meteorites showing no melting
CHORD:
- Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME,CH): radio telescope mapping distant neutral hydrogen
Christie:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
ChroMag:
- Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory (COSMO): proposed solar observatory
chromatic aberration: focusing different wavelengths differently
- aberration: types of flaws in telescope images
chromatic dispersion:
- velocity dispersion (σ): statistical dispersion of velocities of a group of objects
chromium:
- Ap star: peculiar type of A star
chromosphere: middle layer of the Sun's atmosphere
- Moreton wave: type of wave moving across the chromosphere
- stellar atmosphere: photosphere and above
- Sun surface features: features on the Sun's surface
chromospheric activity index: measure of magnetic activity of a star's chromosphere
Chthonian:
- atmospheric escape: escape of gas particles from a planet's atmosphere
Chthonian planet:
- atmospheric escape: escape of gas particles from a planet's atmosphere
Chupina:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CHZ:
- habitable zone (HZ): zone where conditions are favorable for life
CI:
- carbon (C): element, C, atomic number 6
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
- state of ionization: difference in an ion's electron count versus proton count
CIAO:
- Subaru Telescope: 8.2 meter telescope in Hawaii
CIB:
- cosmic background radiation (CBR): electromagnetic radiation coming from every direction
- cosmic infrared background (CIB,CIBR): widespread infrared radiation not associated with known sources
- PEP: survey aimed at early star formation
CIBR:
- cosmic infrared background (CIB,CIBR): widespread infrared radiation not associated with known sources
CID:
- Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): investigation of dark matter and the universe's large scale structure
CIDA:
- Stardust: space mission that collected and returned comet coma dust
CIG: initiative to produce Earth-science software
Cigar Galaxy:
- M82: nearby starburst galaxy
CII:
- carbon (C): element, C, atomic number 6
- state of ionization: difference in an ion's electron count versus proton count
CIII:
- state of ionization: difference in an ion's electron count versus proton count
CINEOS:
- Campo Imperatore Near-Earth Object Survey (CINEOS): survey of near-Earth objects
CIO:
- Catalog of Infrared Observations (CIO): collection of infrared observation data from numerous sources
CIRCE:
- Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC): 10.4 meter telescope in the Canary Islands
Circinus Galaxy (ESO 97-G13): nearest Seyfert galaxy
circle:
- conic section: orbit shapes, like the intersection of a plane and cone
circle of latitude: circle around the Earth of points equidistant from a pole or the equator
circular polarization:
- circular polarization ratio (CPR): ratio of circular polarization handedness in reflected radar signal
- polarization: property of waves that oscillate in a particular direction
circular polarization radar:
- circular polarization ratio (CPR): ratio of circular polarization handedness in reflected radar signal
circular polarization ratio (CPR): ratio of circular polarization handedness in reflected radar signal
circumbinary planet: exoplanet orbiting two stars
circumgalactic medium (CGM): gas surrounding a galaxy
circumplanetary disk: disk of dust and gas around a planet
circumstellar disk: disk or ring shaped accumulation of matter around a star
- disk: rotating disk-shaped object such as disk galaxy or circumstellar disk
circumstellar envelope:
- asymptotic giant branch (AGB): a second stage of helium burning in some stars
- planetary nebula (PN): gas shell ejected by a red giant
circumstellar habitable zone:
- habitable zone (HZ): zone where conditions are favorable for life
circumstellar material:
- superluminous supernova (SLSN): stellar explosion larger than a supernova
cirrus:
- infrared cirrus: cirrus-cloud-like infrared emissions from dust, etc.
cirrus cloud:
- infrared cirrus: cirrus-cloud-like infrared emissions from dust, etc.
CIRS:
- Cassini: explorer spacecraft sent to Saturn
- CEA Service d'Astrophysique (CEA SAp): French national astrophysics research institute
CISCO:
- Subaru Telescope: 8.2 meter telescope in Hawaii
CITA:
- Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA,ICAT): national research organization at University of Toronto
CIV:
- ARGOS: 1999 technology-research satellite
CIVA:
- Rosetta: space probe that visited a comet
CKM Matrix:
- quantum mixing: means by which one particle spontaneously changes to another
CKM Mixing:
- quantum mixing: means by which one particle spontaneously changes to another
CKS:
- California-Kepler Survey (CKS): followup to Kepler to determine stellar radii
CKS-COOL:
- California-Kepler Survey (CKS): followup to Kepler to determine stellar radii
Cl:
- galaxy cluster (CL): large group of galaxies gravitationally-bound to the group
- globular cluster (GC): spherical group of stars orbiting a galaxy
CLAES:
- Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS): 1990s spacecraft to observe Earth ozone layer
CLASS:
- Cosmic Lens All-sky Survey (CLASS): radio survey aimed at gravitational lenses
- CRATES: catalog of 8.4 GHz data on radio sources
Class 0 YSO:
- young stellar object (YSO): early stage of a star
Class I YSO:
- young stellar object (YSO): early stage of a star
Class II YSO:
- young stellar object (YSO): early stage of a star
Class III YSO:
- young stellar object (YSO): early stage of a star
classical Cepheid:
- Cepheid variable (CEP): type of star that varies with a constant period
classical gravitational field:
- gravitational field: gravitational force as distributed over a space
classical KBO:
- Kuiper Belt (K Belt,KB): further part of solar system beyond Neptune
classical Kuiper Belt object:
- Kuiper Belt (K Belt,KB): further part of solar system beyond Neptune
classical mechanics:
- quantum field theory (QFT): reworking of quantum mechanics incorporating fields
- quantum mechanics (QM): modern mechanical theory of small things, on the scale of atoms
- statistical mechanics: mechanical behavior based upon probability
classical nova:
- nova (N): white dwarf explosion
classical T-Tauri star:
- T-Tauri star (TTS): type of variable pre-main-sequence star
classification:
- dwarf galaxy classification: terms for of dwarf galaxy types
- Fanaroff-Riley classification: a classification of the radio characteristics of radio sources
- galaxy classification: morphological classification of galaxies
- luminosity class: classification of size/luminosity of stars
- Morgan classification: classification of galaxies by stellar spectrum and morphology
- planet type: classification of a planet regarding some criteria
- spectral class: overall classification of stars based upon spectral features
- spectral type: classification of stars based upon spectral features
- van den Bergh galaxy classification: galaxy classification variant including luminosity
clathrate: crystal lattice with voids that can trap molecules
clathrate hydrate:
- clathrate: crystal lattice with voids that can trap molecules
Clay Telescope:
- Magellan Telescopes: pair of 6.5 m optical telescopes in Chile
clearing the neighborhood:
- dwarf planet: round like a planet, only smaller
- planet: round object orbiting a star that clears out its own orbital path
CLF:
- conditional luminosity function (CLF): function characterizing luminosity of galaxies with a given halo mass
climate:
- autoconversion rate: rate at which water changes from cloud droplets to new raindrops
- general circulation model (GCM): climate model of a planet's atmosphere or ocean
- HITRAN: spectroscopic parameters for modeling atmospheric optics
- MarsWRF: Mars-oriented general circulation model
- MITgcm: well-known general circulation model
- one dimensional climate model: atmospheric model ignoring all horizontal motion
- radiative forcing (RF): difference between a planet's incoming and outgoing radiation
- ROCKE-3D: Rocky-planet-oriented general circulation model
climate change:
- earthshine: reflected and emitted electromagnetic radiation from Earth
climate model:
- atmosphere: gas surrounding astronomical object
Clio2:
- MMT: 6.5 meter telescope at Mt. Hopkins, Arizona
close binary:
- contact binary: binary stars orbiting so close they are touching
close binary star:
- binary star: system of two stars co-orbiting
- black hole merger: two black holes meeting and forming one
closed magnetic field lines:
- curvature radiation: synchrotron-like radiation when particles follow curved field lines
closed universe:
- critical density (ρ_c): density of the universe which leaves it flat
cloud: higher-density region of space
- galaxy cloud: substructure of a supercluster
- interstellar medium (ISM): matter within a galaxy between star systems
- Magellanic Bridge: hydrogen cloud joining the Magellanic Clouds
- Magellanic Stream: series of high-velocity clouds associated with the Magellanic Clouds
- Monoceros Ring: stellar stream wrapping around the Milky Way
- Orion Molecular Cloud Complex: group of molecular clouds with star forming regions
- Rho Ophiuchi Cloud Complex: nebula that is a nearby star-forming region
- Serpens Cloud: molecular cloud with SF regions
- Smith Cloud: high-velocity cloud on collision course with Milky Way
- Taurus Molecular Cloud 1 (TMC-1): nearby star-forming region
- Virgo Stellar Stream: stellar stream wrapping around the Milky Way
- W51: cloud complex radio source
cloud droplet:
- autoconversion rate: rate at which water changes from cloud droplets to new raindrops
cloud fragmentation: clumping in clouds due to gravitational instability
cloud mass function:
- dense core mass function (DCMF,CMF): function describing range of masses of dense cores
cloud of galaxies:
- galaxy cloud: substructure of a supercluster
cloud type:
- Bok globule: dense molecular cloud
- dark nebula: cloud that obscures stars behind it
- dense core: dense molecular cloud
- emission nebula: nebula that emits light such as an HII region or PN
- evaporating gas globule (EGG): very small dense cloud of hydrogen and dust
- filament: linear volume of high molecular gas density within a galaxy
- giant molecular cloud (GMC): interstellar gas cloud with molecules, thousands of solar masses
- HI region (HI): cloud of neutral atomic hydrogen
- high-velocity cloud (HVC): fast-moving clouds in galactic halos
- HII region (HII): cloud of partially-ionized atomic hydrogen
- infrared dark cloud (IRDC): molecular cloud not emitting nor transmitting infrared
- molecular cloud: interstellar gas cloud that includes molecules
- nebula: cloud of dust and gas
- photodissociation region (PDR): cloud of partially-ionized atomic hydrogen
- planetary nebula (PN): gas shell ejected by a red giant
- protogalaxy: gas cloud forming a galaxy
- radio relics: clouds from past galaxy emitting radio synchrotron radiation
- reflection nebula: nebula made visible by light it scatters from nearby stars
- star-forming region (SFR): areas forming stars or ripe for star formation
clouds:
- broad emission line region: region within an AGN with broad emission lines
- carbon monoxide (CO): compound of carbon and oxygen, one atom each
- cloud fragmentation: clumping in clouds due to gravitational instability
- dense core mass function (DCMF,CMF): function describing range of masses of dense cores
- Dickel-Wendker-Bieritz Catalog (DWB): list of HII regions in the Cygnus X star forming region
- hydroxyl (OH): neutral compound of hydrogen and oxygen, one atom each
- infrared cirrus: cirrus-cloud-like infrared emissions from dust, etc.
- interstellar astrophysics: astronomy of the ISM including dust and clouds
- ionization correction factor (ICF): relations between ion abundances and element abundances
- Jeans length: critical radius below which gravity will collapse a cloud
- kinematic distance: distance to objects within Milky Way based on radial velocity
- Lockman hole: region of sky with little Milky-Way neutral hydrogen
- molecular cloud turbulence: observed turbulence in molecular clouds
- molecular hydrogen dissociation front (H₂ dissociation front): point in a gas cloud where it is hot enough to dissociate hydrogen
- pulsar wind nebula (PWN): type of nebula generated by a young pulsar
- Sharpless Catalog (Sh2): catalog of HII regions found on Palomar plates
- Strömgren sphere: sphere of ionized hydrogen around an OB star
- striae: parallel ridges
- The H2O Southern Galactic Plane Survey (HOPS): survey of molecular clouds in the galactic plane
- tracer: chemical whose presence indicates the presence of another chemical
- virial parameter: calculated quantity showing whether a cloud is gravitationally bound
Cloudy: code to model the effect of gas and plasma on spectra
clump:
- dense core mass function (DCMF,CMF): function describing range of masses of dense cores
clump giant:
- red clump (RC): like horizontal branch but at one temperature
clump mass function:
- dense core mass function (DCMF,CMF): function describing range of masses of dense cores
CLUPI:
- Rosalind Franklin: Mars rover in development for 2020 launch
CLUST:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
cluster:
- galaxy cluster (CL): large group of galaxies gravitationally-bound to the group
cluster dark matter halo:
- dark matter halo: hypothetical dark matter throughout and surrounding a galaxy
cluster fitting:
- main sequence fitting: cluster star distance determined through fitting with the H-R diagram
cluster radius: radius of a galaxy cluster
CM:
- barycenter: center of mass of two orbiting bodies
- color-magnitude diagram (CMD,CM): graph plotting stars' color to luminosity
CMA:
- cold mass accretion (CMA): stellar accretion through an accretion disk
CMa Dwarf:
- Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy: small irregular galaxy in the Local Group
CMa Overdensity:
- Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy: small irregular galaxy in the Local Group
CMB:
- angular power spectrum: method of characterizing the CMB
- anisotropy: directional-dependence such as temperature variation around the CMB
- Archeops: balloon-borne 1.8 m submillimeter telescope
- Atacama B-Mode Search (ABS): 2012-2014 survey of the CMB
- Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): 6 meter microwave survey telescope in Chile
- BICEP2: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- BOOMERanG: 1990s-2000s balloon-borne 1.3-meter millimeter telescope
- CAPMAP: early 2000s array that surveyed CMB polarization
- CMB anisotropies: variations in the spectrum of the CMB
- CMB lensing: gravitational lensing of the CMB
- CMB polarization: effects of scattering and lensing on the CMB
- CMB Stage-4 (CMB-S4): planned 2020s-generation of ground CMB observations
- CMBFAST: software to calculate CMB anisotropies
- cold spot: unusually colder spot in the CMB
- Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope (CAT): 1990s interferometer to measure CMB variations
- Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE): 1989 satellite for observing the CMB
- Cosmic Background Imager (CBI): radio telescope in Chile observing the CMB
- cosmic background radiation (CBR): electromagnetic radiation coming from every direction
- cosmic microwave background (CMB,CMBR,CBR,MBR): microwave radiation coming from every direction
- cosmic variance: density variation on a cosmic scale
- COSMOSOMAS: microwave survey
- destriping: removing streak-like noise from images
- diffusion damping: a damping process within the plasma during recombination
- EBEX: balloon-based CMB polarization survey
- inflation: theorized rapid expansion of the very early universe
- initial fluctuations: early universe density variations leading to current universe
- LiteBIRD: planned spacecraft to map CMB polarization
- LSPE-STRIP: CMB survey telescope in Canary Islands
- LSPE-SWIPE: plan for a balloon-based CMB polarization survey
- MAXIMA: 1998-1999 balloon-borne 1.3-meter millimeter telescope
- multipole expansion: series expansion of a function over the surface of a sphere
- Planck: microwave telescope in space
- POLARBEAR: instrument to map CMB polarization
- primordial gravitational waves: gravitational waves formed in the early universe
- QMAP: mid 1990s balloon-based CMB survey
- QUaD: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- QUBIC: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- QUIET: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- QUIJOTE: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- recombination: time when the universe's ionized hydrogen atoms neutralized
- reheating: theorized increase in temperature after cosmological inflation
- RELIKT-1: instrument on 1980s Soviet satellite to view the CMB
- Sachs-Wolfe effect (SWE,SWeffect): gravitational redshift of the CMB
- Saskatoon: 1990s survey to measure CMB anisotropy
- South Pole Telescope (SPT): a microwave to radio telescope at South Pole
- SPIDER: 2015 airborne observatory to observe CMB polarization
- Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA): array of eight 3.5 meter microwave telescopes
- Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZ effect,SZ,SZE): type of distortion of the CMB
- surface of last scattering: sphere around us from which CMB photons are just reaching us
- Tenerife Experiment: 1980s-1990s survey of CMB anisotropies
- time-ordered data (TOD): observation data arranged by the time it was received
- TopHat: 2001 balloon -based CMB survey
- Very Small Array (VSA): radio interferometer in Canary Islands
- Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP): spacecraft that measured variations in the cosmic background radiation
- Yuan-Tseh Lee Array (YTLA,AMiBA): microwave interferometer in Canary Islands
- Zel'dovich approximation: model of the formation of cosmological structure
CMB anisotropies: variations in the spectrum of the CMB
- baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO): density fluctuations stemming from acoustic waves in the early universe
- primordial gravitational waves: gravitational waves formed in the early universe
CMB cold spot:
- cold spot: unusually colder spot in the CMB
CMB dipole:
- CMB anisotropies: variations in the spectrum of the CMB
CMB foreground:
- C-BASS: 6 cm survey of the entire sky
- cosmic microwave background (CMB,CMBR,CBR,MBR): microwave radiation coming from every direction
CMB halo weak lensing:
- weak lensing (WL): slight lensing detected in random patterns of distant objects
CMB lensing: gravitational lensing of the CMB
CMB polarization: effects of scattering and lensing on the CMB
CMB Stage-4 (CMB-S4): planned 2020s-generation of ground CMB observations
CMB-S4:
- CMB Stage-4 (CMB-S4): planned 2020s-generation of ground CMB observations
CMBFAST: software to calculate CMB anisotropies
CMBR:
- cosmic microwave background (CMB,CMBR,CBR,MBR): microwave radiation coming from every direction
CMC:
- Carlsberg Meridian Catalogue (CMC): series of astrometric catalogs from 19th century on
CMD:
- color-magnitude diagram (CMD,CM): graph plotting stars' color to luminosity
CMDM:
- MMX: Japanese probe to bring back a sample of a Martian moon
CME:
- coronal mass ejection (CME): mass of plasma ejected from the Sun
- ejection: forcing or throwing something out
- Forbush decrease: decrease in cosmic rays after a coronal mass ejection
- solar particle event (SPE): episode of higher velocity solar wind
- Sun surface features: features on the Sun's surface
CMF:
- conditional stellar mass function (CSMF): function characterizing galaxies within a halo of a given mass
- dense core mass function (DCMF,CMF): function describing range of masses of dense cores
Cn:
- New General Catalogue (NGC): 1888 catalog of galaxies, star clusters, and other nebulae
- nova (N): white dwarf explosion
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CN Leonis:
- Wolf 359: nearby red dwarf
CNB:
- cosmic background radiation (CBR): electromagnetic radiation coming from every direction
CNES:
- Centre national d'ètudes spatiales (CNES): French space agency
- COROT: observatory-satellite to look for transiting exoplanets and stellar oscillations
CNM:
- HI region (HI): cloud of neutral atomic hydrogen
- interstellar medium (ISM): matter within a galaxy between star systems
CNO:
- CNO cycle: fusion reaction chain turning hydrogen and nitrogen into helium and nitrogen
CNO cycle: fusion reaction chain turning hydrogen and nitrogen into helium and nitrogen
- oxygen (O): element, O, atomic number 8
CNRS:
- Astronet: European astronomy consortium
CO:
- AIM-CO: survey of CO from star forming epoch
- alpha CO (α_CO): ratio of CO emissions to H₂
- carbon monoxide (CO): compound of carbon and oxygen, one atom each
- CARMA EDGE: CO survey of galaxies
- CO to H₂ factor (Xco,X_CO): assumed ratio between observed CO emission lines and H₂ mass
- COLD GASS: survey of CO in nearby large galaxies
- COMAP: high frequency radio telescope to map CO
- compact object (CO): dense astronomical body such as white dwarf or denser
- COPSS: survey of CO from star forming epoch
- Millimeter-wave Intensity Mapping Experiment (mmIME): project to map CO an [CII]
- PAWS: survey of GMCs in M51a
- PHIBSS: survey of CO in distant galaxies
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CO J ladder:
- carbon monoxide (CO): compound of carbon and oxygen, one atom each
CO ladder:
- carbon monoxide (CO): compound of carbon and oxygen, one atom each
CO Legacy Database for GASS:
- COLD GASS: survey of CO in nearby large galaxies
CO Mapping Array Pathfinder:
- COMAP: high frequency radio telescope to map CO
CO rotational ladder:
- carbon monoxide (CO): compound of carbon and oxygen, one atom each
CO to H₂ factor (Xco,X_CO): assumed ratio between observed CO emission lines and H₂ mass
CO₂:
- carbon dioxide (CO₂): compound of carbon atom and two oxygen atoms
COAST: optical interferometer in England
- Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP): radio telescope array of 36 12-meter dishes
- optical interferometer: interferometer of visible light
coastal Kelvin wave:
- Kelvin waves: pressure and gravity waves formed by Coriolis force and a barrier
COB:
- cosmic optical background (COB): widespread optical radiation not associated with known sources
COBE:
- Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE): 1989 satellite for observing the CMB
CoD:
- Bonner Durchmusterung Catalog (BD): well-known astrometric catalog from late 1800s
code: astrophysical modeling computer program
- AREPO: cosmology simulation using moving mesh technique
- AstroBEAR: MHD simulation system
- Athena: MHD code
- ATLAS Stellar Model: computer model of a stellar photosphere
- BPASS: evolution and population synthesis code for binary stars
- BT-Settl: model atmosphere of small stars and brown dwarfs
- Castro: hydrodynamics simulation software
- Cloudy: code to model the effect of gas and plasma on spectra
- DISORT: simulation of radiative transfer in an atmosphere
- DustEM: code to calculate dust extinction and emission
- Enzo: hydrodynamic simulation system
- FLASH: hydrodynamic simulation system
- FORNAX: hydrodynamics simulation software
- GR1D: core collapse supernova simulation in 1D with GR
- Hyperion: Monte Carlo radiative transfer code
- iSALE: code modeling the shock physics of impacts
- MagIC: numerical code to for fluid dynamics including dynamos
- mlmapper: software for maximum-likelihood mapmaking
- NBODY: code to carry out N-body simulations
- PHOENIX stellar model: computer model of a stellar photosphere
- PLUTO Code: fluid-dynamic simulation code
- PROMETHEUS/VERTEX: hydrodynamic simulation system
- RAMSES: hydrodynamic simulation system
- RODEO: code for 2D disk simulation
- SpEC: code to solve general relativity problems
- StarTrack: stellar population synthesis code
- Turtlebeach: radiative transfer code
Code for Anisotropies in the Microwave Background:
- CMBFAST: software to calculate CMB anisotropies
code type:
- cosmological simulation: simulation of the history of the universe
- N-body simulation: simulation of many objects gravitationally-bound to each other
- stellar population synthesis code: software to perform stellar population synthesis
CODEX:
- European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT,ELT): 39-meter telescope under construction
coefficient:
- absorption coefficient: measure of how much light a substance absorbs
- J₂: geopotential coefficient regarding a planet's oblateness
coeval: the same age
coherence:
- coherent light: beam of light at a single frequency
coherent dense core:
- dense core: dense molecular cloud
coherent light: beam of light at a single frequency
COHSI:
- United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT): Mauna Kea 3.8 meter infrared telescope
Col:
- Collinder Catalog (Cr): 1930s catalog of 471 open clusters
cold dark matter (CDM): one of three types of "dark matter" theory
- dark matter: matter suggested by gravity in galaxies and galaxy clusters
- fuzzy dark matter (FDM): concept of extremely light dark matter particles
cold gas: gas cool enough to form galaxies and stars
COLD GASS: survey of CO in nearby large galaxies
cold mass accretion (CMA): stellar accretion through an accretion disk
cold neutral medium:
- HI region (HI): cloud of neutral atomic hydrogen
- interstellar medium (ISM): matter within a galaxy between star systems
cold pixel:
- hot pixel: CCD pixel that shows more brightness than it should
cold spot: unusually colder spot in the CMB
cold start:
- giant planet formation: process by which giant planets form
- planet formation: process by which planets form
cold trap: layer of atmosphere that prevents a gas from escaping by freezing it
collapsar: neutron star or stellar black hole
collapsar model:
- collapsar: neutron star or stellar black hole
- superluminous supernova (SLSN): stellar explosion larger than a supernova
collecting area: cross-sectional area over which a telescope receives EMR
- spectral flux density (S): flux or power of radiation per unit area per unit wavelength
colliding-wind binary:
- WR 140: Wolf-Rayet star that produces much dust
collimate:
- collimator: device to align beams of light
collimated light:
- collimator: device to align beams of light
collimator: device to align beams of light
Collinder:
- Collinder Catalog (Cr): 1930s catalog of 471 open clusters
Collinder 50:
- Hyades Cluster: nearest open cluster
Collinder Catalog (Cr): 1930s catalog of 471 open clusters
collision:
- galaxy merger: combination of galaxies upon collision
- heating: increasing the velocity of particles
collision cross section:
- cross section: "area" representation of probability of an interaction of particles
collisional:
- globular cluster (GC): spherical group of stars orbiting a galaxy
- stellar dynamics: stars' gravitational interaction
collisional broadening:
- line broadening: processes causing a spectral line to have width
collisional erosion: removing a body's substance through impacts
collisionless Boltzmann equation:
- Vlasov-Poisson equation: equation describing plasma ignoring the magnetic field
color:
- color index: a number that characterizes the color of an object
- color-color diagram (CCD): means of comparing characteristics of stars
- color-magnitude diagram (CMD,CM): graph plotting stars' color to luminosity
- color-period diagram: means of comparing periods of stars at various wavelengths
- cross dispersion spectrograph: echelle spectrograph with additional disperser crosswise to the first
- imaging Fourier transform spectroscopy (IFTS): Michelson-interferometer-based imaging spectroscopy
- imaging spectrometer: device to capture spectrum point-by-point of an image
- integral field spectrograph: spectrograph that captures images
- integral field unit (IFU): instrument to allow a spectrograph to capture data over a 2D field
- JHK photometric system (JHK): system to classify stars according to near-infrared colors
- multi-object spectrograph: device to record the spectrum of multiple targets simultaneously
- passband: range of electromagnetic wavelengths that a filter allows
- photometric system: specification of a set of filters/passbands
- quark matter (QM): matter not made of protons and neutrons but of quarks
- sensitivity function (S): function of wavelength giving the sensitivity of an instrument
- spectrograph: device to record the spectrum of incoming light
- spectrography: charting the strengths of different electromagnetic wavelengths
- spectrometer: device to measure light by wavelength across its spectrum
- spectrometry: measuring the strengths of different electromagnetic wavelengths
- spectroscope: device to study the spectrum of incoming light
- spectroscopy: measurement of light with various electromagnetic wavelengths
- Strömgren photometric system: four-color photometric system devised in 1950s
- UBV photometric system: commonly-cited photometric system for describing stars' colors
color excess:
- color index: a number that characterizes the color of an object
- reddening: red appearance of astronomical objects because blue light is attenuated by dust
color index: a number that characterizes the color of an object
color temperature (T_C): temperature-measure of a source based on a color index
- effective temperature (T_eff,Teff): temperature of an equivalent black body in terms of total radiation
- temperature: measure of hotness/coldness of matter
color-color diagram (CCD): means of comparing characteristics of stars
color-magnitude diagram (CMD,CM): graph plotting stars' color to luminosity
color-period diagram: means of comparing periods of stars at various wavelengths
Colossus Telescope: concept for a 50-meter telescope using interferometry
column density: measure of the matter through which EMR is passing
- particle number (N): number of particles
column mass density:
- column density: measure of the matter through which EMR is passing
column number density:
- column density: measure of the matter through which EMR is passing
Coma:
- Carbon Monoxide Mapping Array (COMA): planned experiment to observe epoch of reionization
- coma: aberration where points of light show a tail
- comet: Sun-orbiting object with coma and possible tail
- Stardust: space mission that collected and returned comet coma dust
Coma Berenices:
- Milky Way subgroup: the Milky Way and its satellites
Coma Cluster:
- Coma Supercluster: nearby supercluster
- galaxy cluster (CL): large group of galaxies gravitationally-bound to the group
Coma Filament:
- galaxy filament: thread-like formations of galaxies, 50 to 80 megaparsecs
Coma Supercluster: nearby supercluster
- Great Wall: large slab of galaxies
Coma Wall:
- Great Wall: large slab of galaxies
COMAP: high frequency radio telescope to map CO
- Carbon Monoxide Mapping Array (COMA): planned experiment to observe epoch of reionization
comatic aberration:
- coma: aberration where points of light show a tail
Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA): array of radio telescopes in eastern California
combined differential photometric precision (CDPP): calculated relation of photometric variation to SNR
Combined Radio All-sky Targeted Eight-GHz Survey:
- CRATES: catalog of 8.4 GHz data on radio sources
ComCam:
- Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT): 24.5 meter telescope under construction
comet: Sun-orbiting object with coma and possible tail
- 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P,67P/C-G): comet visited by Rosetta space mission
Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return:
- CAESAR: planned space mission to return a sample of a comet
Comet Galaxy: spiral galaxy in cluster Abell 2667
Comet Giacobini-Zinner:
- International Cometary Explorer (ICE): 1980s space mission flying by comets
Comet Halley:
- comet: Sun-orbiting object with coma and possible tail
- Giotto: 1980s space mission carrying out a Comet Halley flyby
- International Cometary Explorer (ICE): 1980s space mission flying by comets
- long-period comet: comet with an orbital period of more than 200 years
- Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO): NASA Venus probe launched 1978
- SPARTAN: series of astronomy satellites launched/retrieved by space shuttle
Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy:
- comet: Sun-orbiting object with coma and possible tail
comet planet: planet with some characteristics of a comet
cometary globule:
- Bok globule: dense molecular cloud
cometary hydrogen cloud:
- comet: Sun-orbiting object with coma and possible tail
cometary nebula:
- cloud: higher-density region of space
- Parsamian Nebula Catalog: 1965 list of nebulae
- reflection nebula: nebula made visible by light it scatters from nearby stars
comets:
- asteroid: minor planet without comet characteristics
- CAESAR: planned space mission to return a sample of a comet
- Catalogue of Cometary Orbits (CCO): comet catalog updated since 1970s
- centaur: asteroid-like body orbiting among the outer planets
- Hills cloud: cloud of comets and minor planets around the solar system
- International Cometary Explorer (ICE): 1980s space mission flying by comets
- Kuiper Belt (K Belt,KB): further part of solar system beyond Neptune
- long-period comet: comet with an orbital period of more than 200 years
- Oort Cloud: cloud of comets and minor planets around the solar system
- Rosetta: space probe that visited a comet
- Stardust: space mission that collected and returned comet coma dust
- striae: parallel ridges
- Uppsala-ESO Survey of Asteroids and Comets (UESAC): 1990s comet and asteroid survey
COMICS:
- Subaru Telescope: 8.2 meter telescope in Hawaii
commensal mode: telescope usage that accomplishes multiple observations simultaneously
commensurability:
- orbital resonance: tendency of orbits of multiple bodies to remain in a simple pattern
Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives:
- CEA Service d'Astrophysique (CEA SAp): French national astrophysics research institute
common envelope: binary star system surrounded by a single gas cloud
- post-common envelope binary (PCEB): binary star system showing unusual stellar evolution
common envelope binary:
- common envelope: binary star system surrounded by a single gas cloud
- post-common envelope binary (PCEB): binary star system showing unusual stellar evolution
common envelope binary event:
- common envelope: binary star system surrounded by a single gas cloud
- post-common envelope binary (PCEB): binary star system showing unusual stellar evolution
common proper motion:
- proper motion (PM): apparent motion in relation to the position of the Sun
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation:
- Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA): radio telescope in eastern Australia
comoving coordinates:
- comoving units: units of measure that incorporate the scale factor
comoving density of star formation:
- star formation rate (SFR): rate at which material such as gas is turned into stars
comoving distance:
- comoving units: units of measure that incorporate the scale factor
comoving horizon:
- particle horizon: furthest point from which light can reach us
comoving SFR density:
- star formation rate (SFR): rate at which material such as gas is turned into stars
comoving SFRD:
- star formation rate (SFR): rate at which material such as gas is turned into stars
comoving space density:
- comoving units: units of measure that incorporate the scale factor
comoving speed:
- comoving units: units of measure that incorporate the scale factor
comoving star formation rate density:
- star formation rate (SFR): rate at which material such as gas is turned into stars
comoving units: units of measure that incorporate the scale factor
comoving volume:
- comoving units: units of measure that incorporate the scale factor
CoMP:
- High Altitude Observatory (HAO): NCAR unit observing and monitoring the Sun
compact binary:
- binary star: system of two stars co-orbiting
compact galaxy:
- dwarf galaxy: small galaxy with a few billion stars
compact group:
- galaxy group: group of fifty or fewer gravitationally bound Milky-Way-sized galaxies
compact HII region:
- HII region (HII): cloud of partially-ionized atomic hydrogen
compact object (CO): dense astronomical body such as white dwarf or denser
compact object binary:
- galactic binary: system of two object co-orbiting within the Milky Way
compact object merger:
- compact object (CO): dense astronomical body such as white dwarf or denser
compact objects:
- galactic binary: system of two object co-orbiting within the Milky Way
Compact Objects with ASKAP: Surveys and Timing:
- Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP): radio telescope array of 36 12-meter dishes
compact star:
- compact object (CO): dense astronomical body such as white dwarf or denser
compact stellar nucleus:
- stellar nucleus: group of many stars at the center of a galaxy
COMPLETE Survey: survey of star forming regions
completeness: measure of how many of a survey's objects of a certain magnitude have been detected
completeness limit:
- completeness: measure of how many of a survey's objects of a certain magnitude have been detected
complex:
- molecular cloud: interstellar gas cloud that includes molecules
complex crater: crater with central high-point
composite boson:
- particle: very small thing
compound:
- acetylene (C₂H₂): compound of two carbon and two hydrogen atoms
- amine: type of compound containing nitrogen
- ammonia (NH₃): particular compound of nitrogen and hydrogen
- carbon dioxide (CO₂): compound of carbon atom and two oxygen atoms
- carbon monoxide (CO): compound of carbon and oxygen, one atom each
- ethylene (C₂H₄): compound of two carbon and four hydrogen atoms
- glycine (Gly,G): smallest of the twenty common amino acids
- hydrocarbon (HC): any compound of just carbon and hydrogen
- hydroxyl (OH): neutral compound of hydrogen and oxygen, one atom each
- methane (CH₄): compound of one carbon and 4 hydrogen atoms
- methylidyne (CH): compound of one carbon and one hydrogen atom
- nitrite (NO₂^-): ion of a nitrogen atom and two oxygen atoms with extra electron
- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH): hydrocarbons consisting of meshes of benzene rings
- silicate: type of compound including silicon and oxygen
compound lens:
- chromatic aberration: focusing different wavelengths differently
- spherical aberration: mis-focusing by spherically-curved mirrors and lenses
COMPTEL:
- Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO,GRO): 1990s space observatory for gamma ray observation
Compton camera:
- Compton telescope: type of gamma ray telescope for 0.75-30 MeV range
Compton cooling:
- Compton scattering: photon collision with a charged particle that emits a different photon
Compton effect:
- Compton scattering: photon collision with a charged particle that emits a different photon
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO,GRO): 1990s space observatory for gamma ray observation
Compton optical depth:
- Thomson optical depth (τ_T,τ): a measure of effects of Thomson scattering
Compton parameter:
- Compton scattering: photon collision with a charged particle that emits a different photon
Compton reflection: recognizable emission due to a gas or plasma's Compton scattering
Compton scattering: photon collision with a charged particle that emits a different photon
- Compton reflection: recognizable emission due to a gas or plasma's Compton scattering
- Compton telescope: type of gamma ray telescope for 0.75-30 MeV range
- electron scattering: any process that changes the course of an electron
- Klein-Nishina formula: formula for the effects of electrons scattering photons
- non-thermal emission: EMR not due to a body's heat
- scintillator: instrument part designed to respond to high-energy photons
- synchrotron self-Compton (SSC): charged particle cloud scattering its own synchrotron-produced photons
Compton telescope: type of gamma ray telescope for 0.75-30 MeV range
Compton thick:
- Thomson optical depth (τ_T,τ): a measure of effects of Thomson scattering
Compton upscattering:
- Compton scattering: photon collision with a charged particle that emits a different photon
Compton wavelength: lower bound on a particle's possible de Broglie wavelength
Compton Y-parameter:
- Compton scattering: photon collision with a charged particle that emits a different photon
Comptonization:
- Compton scattering: photon collision with a charged particle that emits a different photon
computation:
- adaptive mesh refinement (AMR): numerical modeling method balancing detail with tractability
- basis function: one of a set of functions used to approximate a function of interest
- Bernstein polynomial: polynomial form capable of producing arbitrary shapes
- CIG: initiative to produce Earth-science software
- cosmological simulation: simulation of the history of the universe
- discontinuous Galerkin method: computational method for PDEs handling discontinuities
- fast Fourier transform (FFT): efficient algorithm for calculating a discrete Fourier transform
- finite difference method (FDM): means of estimating calculus and differential equation solutions
- finite element method (FEM,FEA): computational method for PDEs suited to physical problems
- finite volume method (FVM): computational method to PDEs especially suited to fluid dynamics
- flux reconstruction (FR): numerical approach emphasizing joining the subdivisions
- Godunov scheme: computational fluid dynamics method
- high resolution shock capture (HRSC): method of modeling shock waves
- Hough transform (HT): algorithm used in image processing
- Krylov subspace method: efficient method of numerically solving sets of linear equations
- lattice Boltzmann method (LBM): computational fluid dynamics method treating the fluid as particles
- Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC): model technique to approximate multi-dimensional integrals
- mass shell: conceptual volume of mass shaped like a hollow sphere
- Message Passing Interface (MPI): mechanism for passing data between processors of a multiprocessor
- numerical analysis: using equations through repetitive arithmetic
- numerical relativity (NR): solving GR-sensitive problems with numerical methods
- pipeline: set series of tasks to perform on something
- quantum Monte Carlo (QMC): MC approach to difficult quantum mechanical problems
- random forest: algorithmic method of developing decision trees
- random walk: movement with random turns
- Riemann problem: consequence of discontinuities in numerical methods
- shearing box: method of simulating 3D MHD in disks
- smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH): computational method for simulating fluid flows
- spectral method: method of numerically solving differential equations
- stencil: pattern of input to numerical solutions at a point
- task-based parallelism (TBP): breaking a computation into tasks that can be run in parallel
computational astrophysics: astrophysical study through computer modeling
- HARM²: technique for parallelizing computations of radiation with hydrodynamics
computational fluid dynamics:
- lattice Boltzmann method (LBM): computational fluid dynamics method treating the fluid as particles
Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics:
- CIG: initiative to produce Earth-science software
computational physics:
- computational astrophysics: astrophysical study through computer modeling
computerized tomography scan:
- tomography: observation of sections of a 3D object
computing:
- data cube: "table" of numerical data covering three dimensions
- exascale computing: exaFLOP computing capability, i.e., quintillion FLOPs
concept:
- California Extremely Large Telescope (CELT): concept for an extremely large telescope
- Europa Lander: plan for a mid 2020s Europa probe landing on the surface
- Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope (GSMT): concept for an extremely large telescope
- STAR-X: concept for a future X-ray space telescope
- starshade: spacecraft to block light from a specific body
Concept 1:
- Origins Space Telescope (OST): concept for future very large space IR telescope
Concept 2:
- Origins Space Telescope (OST): concept for future very large space IR telescope
CONCERTO: spectrometer aimed at mapping the [CII] line
concordance model:
- alternative cosmologies: cosmological models other than Big Bang/Lambda-CDM
condensation:
- refractory material: material with high condensation temperature
- volatile material: material with low condensation temperature
condensation temperature:
- refractory material: material with high condensation temperature
- volatile material: material with low condensation temperature
conditional luminosity function (CLF): function characterizing luminosity of galaxies with a given halo mass
conditional mass function:
- conditional stellar mass function (CSMF): function characterizing galaxies within a halo of a given mass
conditional stellar mass function (CSMF): function characterizing galaxies within a halo of a given mass
conductance:
- siemens (S): SI unit of electrical conductance
conduction:
- stellar structure: the presumed internal structure of stars
- white dwarf (WD): stellar remnant of mostly electron degenerate matter
conductive hydrogen:
- metal: in astrophysics, any element more massive than helium
- metallic hydrogen: a high-pressure state of hydrogen that is conductive
conductivity:
- siemens (S): SI unit of electrical conductance
confidence interval:
- error bar: feature of a graph to indicate accuracy
configuration:
- monolithic mirror: telescope mirror made of one piece of material
- segmented mirror: a telescope mirror formed of array of smaller mirrors
conformal field theory (CFT): a type of quantum field theory
- anti-de Sitter space (AdS): type of curved space
conformal mapping:
- conformal field theory (CFT): a type of quantum field theory
conformal transformation:
- conformal field theory (CFT): a type of quantum field theory
confusion:
- confusion limit: limit on telescope imaging due to too many sources in the same region
confusion limit: limit on telescope imaging due to too many sources in the same region
confusion-limited image:
- confusion limit: limit on telescope imaging due to too many sources in the same region
conic section: orbit shapes, like the intersection of a plane and cone
conjunction:
- celestial event: generally something happening visible in the sky
- heliocentric system: model of the universe with the planets orbiting the Sun
CONSERT:
- Rosetta: space probe that visited a comet
conservation law: property that remains unchanged by physical phenomena
consortium:
- Astronet: European astronomy consortium
- European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA): European collaboration of radio telescopes
- International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA): organization of pulsar timing arrays
- MicroFUN (μFUN): observers following up on microlensing events in the galactic bulge
- NANOGrav: effort to detect gravitational waves through pulsar timing
- pulsar timing array (PTA): cooperating set of pulsar timing observatories
- SuperWASP (SWASP): broad Earth-based search for transiting planets
- WASP: multi-university initiative to locate transiting planets
constant:
- Avogadro's number (N_A): roughly number of hydrogen atoms in a gram
- Boltzmann constant (k,k_B): relates particle energy and temperature
- Chandrasekhar limit: maximum mass of a white dwarf
- gravitational constant (G): indicates how much pull between two masses
- GZK limit: limit on energy of cosmic rays
- Hubble constant (H₀): current rate of expansion of the universe
- Hubble time (t_H): approximation of the age of the universe
- Oort constants: two constants characterizing local Milky-Way motion
- Planck constant (h): quantum of action in quantum mechanics
- Schönberg-Chandrasekhar limit: maximum stellar isothermal helium core mass
- solar constant: flux from the Sun at 1 AU
- Stefan-Boltzmann constant (σ): relates radiation power to temperature and surface area
- Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit (TOV,LOV): maximum mass of a neutron star
constellation: division of the celestial sphere
- asterism: easily recognizable star pattern
- Orion: well-known constellation in the northern hemisphere
constitutive equations:
- equation of state (EoS): equation relating temperature, pressure, and volume
constitutive relations:
- equation of state (EoS): equation relating temperature, pressure, and volume
construction:
- 4MOST: spectrograph in development for VISTA telescope
- BlackGEM: telescope array in development to follow up gravitational wave signals
- Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA): ground gamma-ray telescope array in development
- Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI): new instrument for measuring red-shift of distant objects
- Euclid: planned observatory-satellite to measure dark energy
- European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT,ELT): 39-meter telescope under construction
- FAST: Arecibo-like 500 m telescope in deployment in China
- Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT): 24.5 meter telescope under construction
- HIRAX: radio telescope array 21-cm surveying
- James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): future space-based 6.5 meter infrared telescope
- JUICE: mission to Jupiter in development
- Keck Planet Finder (KPF): spectrograph in development for Keck
- Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC): extreme AO upgrade under development for Keck
- Mars 2020: Mars rover in development for 2020 launch
- Multi-object Optical and Near-IR Spectrograph (MOONS): advanced spectrograph under development for VLT
- NIRPS: near-infrared extension to HARPS spectrograph
- Northern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA): large radio telescope array under construction in Europe
- OSAM-1: prototype space robot for servicing satellites
- PLATO: planned observatory-satellite aimed at finding exoplanets
- QUBIC: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- Rosalind Franklin: Mars rover in development for 2020 launch
- Rubin Observatory (VRO,LSST): 8-meter survey reflector telescope under construction in Chile
- Solar Orbiter (SolO): Sun-observing satellite in development
- Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT): extremely large telescope planned for Hawaii
- TolTEC: sensitive infrared camera under construction for the LMT
- University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO): observatory for a 6.5 m infrared telescope under construction
- WEAVE: spectrograph under construction for the William Herschel Telescope
constructive interference:
- interference: result of interaction of waves
contact binary: binary stars orbiting so close they are touching
- binary star: system of two stars co-orbiting
- black hole merger: two black holes meeting and forming one
contamination:
- completeness: measure of how many of a survey's objects of a certain magnitude have been detected
continuous absorption: the absorption of a whole section of a spectrum
continuous Galerkin method:
- discontinuous Galerkin method: computational method for PDEs handling discontinuities
continuous random variable:
- probability density function (PDF): shows probability of taking a particular value from a continuous range
- probability mass function (PMF): shows probability of taking one of a number of discrete values
continuous shock:
- shock wave: abrupt propagating disturbance in a fluid
continuous spectrum: smooth spectrum or portion of spectrum with no lines
continuous viewing zone (CVZ): region of sky that can be viewed 7×24×365
continuous-wave frequency-modulated:
- frequency modulation (FM): changing the frequency of a signal's carrier
continuum: portion of a continuous spectrum not affected by a spectral feature
- continuous absorption: the absorption of a whole section of a spectrum
- continuous spectrum: smooth spectrum or portion of spectrum with no lines
- continuum emission: continuous spectrum such as black body radiation or bremsstrahlung
continuum emission: continuous spectrum such as black body radiation or bremsstrahlung
convection:
- convection zone: region of a star transmitting energy through convection
- mixing length theory: tractable simplified model of convection
- RT instability: result of lighter fluid pushing a heavier fluid
- stellar structure: the presumed internal structure of stars
convection zone: region of a star transmitting energy through convection
convective mantle:
- dynamo: mechanism for generating magnetic fields around astronomical bodies
convective parameterization:
- subgrid-scale physics: shortcuts handling physics on a smaller scale than a simulation's grid
convective region:
- convection zone: region of a star transmitting energy through convection
convective Rossby number:
- Rossby number (Ro): ratio of inertial to Coriolis force
convective Urca process:
- Urca process: neutrino-emitting process
convective zone:
- convection zone: region of a star transmitting energy through convection
convergent point:
- moving-cluster method: method of measuring distance to a nearby star cluster
convergent point method:
- moving-cluster method: method of measuring distance to a nearby star cluster
convolution: type of product function of two functions
COO:
- double star designation: Systems and format of double star designators
cool carbon star:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
cool galactic carbon star:
- carbon star (C): star with more carbon than oxygen in its atmosphere
cooling flow: inward flow of ICM within galaxy clusters
- Zwicky 3146 (Zw 3146,ZwCl 1021.0+0426): nearby large galaxy cluster
cooling flow problem:
- cooling flow: inward flow of ICM within galaxy clusters
cooling function: function relating a gas's cooling rate to its temperature
cooling timescale:
- giant planet: planet of more than 10 Earth masses
- timescale (t,τ): general length of time something takes
coordinate:
- declination (dec): direction coordinate above/below celestial equator
- epoch: when an object was at a particular set of celestial coordinates
- meridian: circle around the Earth passing through both poles
- right ascension (RA): direction coordinate along celestial equator
- terrestrial time (TT): current measure of time for astronomical observations on Earth
coordinate distance:
- comoving units: units of measure that incorporate the scale factor
coordinate system:
- ecliptic coordinate system: celestial coordinate system system based upon Earth's orbital plane
- equatorial coordinate system: latitude/longitude-like system for the celestial sphere
- galactic coordinate system (GCS): celestial coordinate system system based upon the galactic plane
- horizontal coordinate system: celestial coordinate system based upon horizon and north
- International Celestial Reference System (ICRS): standardized variation of equatorial coordinate system
- supergalactic coordinate system: celestial coordinate system system based upon the supergalactic plane
Coordinated Molecular Probe Line Extinction Thermal Emission Survey:
- COMPLETE Survey: survey of star forming regions
coordinated universal time:
- time standard: method of designating points in time and quantifying time periods
coordinates:
- celestial coordinate system: system for specifying position of celestial objects
- celestial equator: equator-like line around the celestial sphere
- celestial pole: point within the celestial sphere aligned with Earth's rotation axis
- celestial sphere: the sky in considered as a sphere surrounding the observer
- ecliptic: path of the Sun on the celestial sphere as seen from Earth
- equinox: times when tilt of Earth is neither toward or away from the Sun
- galactic plane: plane in which the stars of the Milky Way reside
- north galactic pole: determination of the more northern direction of the Milky Way's axis
- phone number: colloquial expression for coordinates
- plane of the sky (POS): plane tangent to the celestial sphere
- solar time: time based upon the position of the Sun in the Earth's sky
- torus coordinates: coordinates for toruses
Coordinates, Sizes, Magnitudes, Orientation, and Shapes:
- SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey (SSS): survey of stars and galaxies from legacy plates
Copernicus:
- Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO): series of 1960s-1970s NASA space telescopes
coplanar flip:
- planetary migration: change in planet's orbit
COPSS: survey of CO from star forming epoch
Cordelia:
- shepherd moon: small moon at outer edge of a ring
Cordoba Durchmusterung:
- Bonner Durchmusterung Catalog (BD): well-known astrometric catalog from late 1800s
core:
- core-cusp problem: theories and observation show different dwarf galaxy rotation curves
- dense core: dense molecular cloud
- gas planet: planet made largely of gas
- stellar core: the middle of a star
core accretion:
- core accretion model: model for the formation of giant planets
core accretion model: model for the formation of giant planets
- giant planet formation: process by which giant planets form
core barrier:
- planet formation: process by which planets form
core collapse: results when the center of something loses its pressure
- globular cluster (GC): spherical group of stars orbiting a galaxy
- Messier 15 (M15): globular cluster with collapsed core
core collapse progenitor:
- core collapse supernova (CCSN): supernova resulting from the collapse of the core of a star
core collapse supernova (CCSN): supernova resulting from the collapse of the core of a star
- core collapse: results when the center of something loses its pressure
- supernova (SN): stellar explosion larger than a nova
core flash:
- helium flash: helium ignition in a star
core mass function:
- dense core mass function (DCMF,CMF): function describing range of masses of dense cores
core-cusp problem: theories and observation show different dwarf galaxy rotation curves
core-driven escape:
- atmospheric escape: escape of gas particles from a planet's atmosphere
core-mantle boundary:
- cosmic microwave background (CMB,CMBR,CBR,MBR): microwave radiation coming from every direction
Coriolis effect:
- Coriolis force: apparent force in a rotating frame of reference
- Hadley cell: circulation pattern of up at the equator, poleward, down, and back
Coriolis force: apparent force in a rotating frame of reference
CorMASS: near-infrared spectrograph
Cornell Caltech Atacama Telescope:
- CCAT: 25-meter submillimeter telescope plan for Chile
Cornell Massachusetts Slit Spectrograph:
- CorMASS: near-infrared spectrograph
Cornell University:
- Carl Sagan Institute (CSI): group researching finding life on other planets and moons
corona: plasma surrounding a star
- coronagraph: telescope feature to block light from a specific body
- coronal hole: cool, low-density portions of the Sun's corona
- coronal mass ejection (CME): mass of plasma ejected from the Sun
- Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory (COSMO): proposed solar observatory
- flux rope: rope-shaped structure in magnetic fields associated with coronal mass ejections
- magnetic arcade: series of arch-like magnetic flux lines on the Sun
- solar flare: sudden brightening of the Sun
- solar wind: charged particles emanating from the Sun
- standard model of a flare: description of how solar flares function
- stellar atmosphere: photosphere and above
- Sun surface features: features on the Sun's surface
- TRACE: former solar observing satellite
- transition region: middle layer of the Sun's atmosphere
coronagraph: telescope feature to block light from a specific body
- solar telescope: telescope designed to observe the Sun
coronagraphy:
- coronagraph: telescope feature to block light from a specific body
coronal gas:
- interstellar medium (ISM): matter within a galaxy between star systems
coronal hole: cool, low-density portions of the Sun's corona
- Sun surface features: features on the Sun's surface
coronal loop:
- magnetic arcade: series of arch-like magnetic flux lines on the Sun
coronal mass ejection (CME): mass of plasma ejected from the Sun
- ejection: forcing or throwing something out
- Forbush decrease: decrease in cosmic rays after a coronal mass ejection
- mass: object's quality that determines the effects of forces and gravity
- solar flare: sudden brightening of the Sun
- solar particle event (SPE): episode of higher velocity solar wind
- space weather: varying conditions in space affecting Earth and humans
- Sun surface features: features on the Sun's surface
Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory (COSMO): proposed solar observatory
COROT: observatory-satellite to look for transiting exoplanets and stellar oscillations
corotation resonance (CR): an orbital resonance with the same frequency as the orbit
corotation torque: torque on a planet from coorbiting planetary disk material
corrected AIC:
- Akaike information criterion (AIC): particular formula for comparison of statistical models
correction:
- gravity anomaly: difference between measured gravity and that predicted by a model
Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement:
- Hubble Space Telescope (HST): observatory-satellite with 2.4 meter reflective telescope
correlation function:
- N-point function: general term for analyses-techniques of spatial data
correlator: unit that interferes wave signals for interferometry
CORSA-b:
- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA): Japan agency includes astronomical research
Corvus:
- Sloan Great Wall (SGW): large slab of galaxies discovered in SDSS
COS:
- Hubble Space Telescope (HST): observatory-satellite with 2.4 meter reflective telescope
COSAC:
- Rosetta: space probe that visited a comet
COSI: 2000s balloon-based gamma ray telescope
COSIMA:
- Rosetta: space probe that visited a comet
COSMIC:
- Hale Telescope: 5.1 m reflector telescope in California
Cosmic Anisotropy Polarization Mapper:
- CAPMAP: early 2000s array that surveyed CMB polarization
Cosmic Anisotropy Telescope (CAT): 1990s interferometer to measure CMB variations
Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS): early universe survey by HST
Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE): 1989 satellite for observing the CMB
Cosmic Background Imager (CBI): radio telescope in Chile observing the CMB
cosmic background radiation (CBR): electromagnetic radiation coming from every direction
cosmic censorship hypothesis:
- law of cosmic censorship: a singularity cannot be observed
cosmic distance:
- standard candle: astronomical object whose brightness can be determined
- standard ruler: astronomical phenomenon whose size can be determined
cosmic distance ladder: sequence of methods of measuring distance to astronomical objects
- standard siren: transient whose gravitational waves indicate a specific distance
cosmic distance scale:
- cosmic distance ladder: sequence of methods of measuring distance to astronomical objects
- standard candle: astronomical object whose brightness can be determined
- standard ruler: astronomical phenomenon whose size can be determined
cosmic dust: cosmic dust is dust in space such as interstellar dust
Cosmic Dust Analyzer:
- Cassini: explorer spacecraft sent to Saturn
Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): investigation of dark matter and the universe's large scale structure
Cosmic Explorer: concept for a very large LIGO-like GW detector
Cosmic Explorer 1:
- Cosmic Explorer: concept for a very large LIGO-like GW detector
Cosmic Explorer 2:
- Cosmic Explorer: concept for a very large LIGO-like GW detector
cosmic gamma ray background (CGB): gamma-ray radiation seen everywhere
cosmic high noon:
- peak star-formation epoch: around 10 billion years ago when star formation peaked
Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer Satellite:
- CHIPSat: small satellite to investigate ISM plasma
cosmic inflation:
- inflation: theorized rapid expansion of the very early universe
cosmic infrared background (CIB,CIBR): widespread infrared radiation not associated with known sources
cosmic lens:
- current sheet: narrow sheet within a magnetic field where current flows
Cosmic Lens All-sky Survey (CLASS): radio survey aimed at gravitational lenses
cosmic light horizon:
- particle horizon: furthest point from which light can reach us
cosmic microwave background (CMB,CMBR,CBR,MBR): microwave radiation coming from every direction
- initial fluctuations: early universe density variations leading to current universe
cosmic microwave background dipole:
- CMB anisotropies: variations in the spectrum of the CMB
cosmic microwave background radiation:
- cosmic microwave background (CMB,CMBR,CBR,MBR): microwave radiation coming from every direction
cosmic neutrino background:
- cosmic background radiation (CBR): electromagnetic radiation coming from every direction
cosmic noon:
- peak star-formation epoch: around 10 billion years ago when star formation peaked
cosmic optical background (COB): widespread optical radiation not associated with known sources
cosmic ray astronomy:
- cosmic rays (CR): very-high-energy particles from beyond the solar system
cosmic ray background:
- cosmic rays (CR): very-high-energy particles from beyond the solar system
cosmic ray spallation:
- lithium (Li): metal, Li, atomic number 3
- nucleosynthesis: creation of atomic nuclei
cosmic rays (CR): very-high-energy particles from beyond the solar system
- Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE): satellite collecting solar wind and cosmic rays
- air shower: particles and EMR generated in the atmosphere incoming particle or EMR
- ARGO-YBJ Experiment: cosmic-ray/gamma-ray detector in Tibet
- Forbush decrease: decrease in cosmic rays after a coronal mass ejection
- GZK limit: limit on energy of cosmic rays
- INTEGRAL: European gamma ray observatory-satellite
- LOPES: cosmic ray detector that detected resulting radio
- Orbiting Wide-angle Light Collectors (OWL): planned space mission to detect cosmic rays through Earth atmosphere light flashes
- PAMELA: cosmic ray detector attached to satellite
- Pierre Auger Observatory (PAO): cosmic-ray observatory in Argentina
cosmic ruler:
- cosmic distance ladder: sequence of methods of measuring distance to astronomical objects
cosmic string: rent in spacetime
- topological defect: defect in space that could arise in the early universe
cosmic time: time since the Big Bang
cosmic time dilation:
- cosmological time dilation: very distant events appear to take longer
cosmic variance: density variation on a cosmic scale
cosmic void:
- void: empty spaces between large scale structures
cosmic web: hypothesized structure of the dark matter throughout the universe
- dark matter filament: hypothesized type of long, thin volume of dark matter
- large scale structure (LSS): the universe's structure as in placement of clusters
cosmic X-ray background (CXB,CXRB,CXBR): X-ray radiation coming from outside the Milky Way
cosmic X-ray background radiation:
- cosmic X-ray background (CXB,CXRB,CXBR): X-ray radiation coming from outside the Milky Way
cosmic X-ray survey:
- X-ray: electromagnetic radiation, wavelength 0.01 to 10 nanometers
cosmic year:
- Milky Way: our galaxy
COSMO:
- Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory (COSMO): proposed solar observatory
COSMO11:
- COSMOSOMAS: microwave survey
COSMO15:
- COSMOSOMAS: microwave survey
cosmogony:
- cosmology: study of the life of the universe
cosmological:
- cosmology: study of the life of the universe
cosmological band shifting:
- band shifting: effect of redshift on photometry
cosmological constant (Λ): force counteracting the universe's inward gravitational pull
cosmological distance ladder:
- cosmic distance ladder: sequence of methods of measuring distance to astronomical objects
cosmological horizon:
- particle horizon: furthest point from which light can reach us
cosmological inflation:
- inflation: theorized rapid expansion of the very early universe
cosmological models:
- Alcock-Paczyński effect (AP effect): type of distortion of the apparent depth of galaxy clusters
cosmological principle: on a large scale the universe is the same everywhere
cosmological redshift:
- redshift (z): change to longer wavelengths due to Doppler effects
cosmological simulation: simulation of the history of the universe
- computational astrophysics: astrophysical study through computer modeling
cosmological simulations:
- cosmic web: hypothesized structure of the dark matter throughout the universe
- dark matter filament: hypothesized type of long, thin volume of dark matter
Cosmological Structures On Medium Angular Scales:
- COSMOSOMAS: microwave survey
cosmological time dilation: very distant events appear to take longer
- time dilation: relativity's ability to make time differ for different objects
cosmological zoom simulation: cosmological simulation plus higher resolution simulations of selected space
cosmology: study of the life of the universe
- 21-cm experiment: search for redshifted 21-cm hydrogen emission lines
- Alcock-Paczyński effect (AP effect): type of distortion of the apparent depth of galaxy clusters
- alternative cosmologies: cosmological models other than Big Bang/Lambda-CDM
- angular power spectrum: method of characterizing the CMB
- anisotropy: directional-dependence such as temperature variation around the CMB
- baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO): density fluctuations stemming from acoustic waves in the early universe
- Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS): survey of spatial distribution of luminous red galaxies and quasars
- BICEP2: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- Big Bang: theoretical event when the universe expanded from a point
- Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN): creation of atomic nuclei in the very early universe
- BigBOSS: BOSS survey follow-on
- Bolshoi simulation: cosmological simulation
- BOOMERanG: 1990s-2000s balloon-borne 1.3-meter millimeter telescope
- Butcher-Oemler effect (BOE): observation of more blue galaxies at z > 0.3
- Calán/Tololo Survey: late 1980s to early 1990s search to redshift 0.1
- Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP): survey of supernovae lightcurves
- chemical equilibrium (CE): state where chemical makeup is unchanging
- CMB anisotropies: variations in the spectrum of the CMB
- CMB polarization: effects of scattering and lensing on the CMB
- CMBFAST: software to calculate CMB anisotropies
- cold dark matter (CDM): one of three types of "dark matter" theory
- comoving units: units of measure that incorporate the scale factor
- core-cusp problem: theories and observation show different dwarf galaxy rotation curves
- Cosmic Assembly Near-infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (CANDELS): early universe survey by HST
- Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): investigation of dark matter and the universe's large scale structure
- cosmic time: time since the Big Bang
- cosmic variance: density variation on a cosmic scale
- cosmological constant (Λ): force counteracting the universe's inward gravitational pull
- cosmological principle: on a large scale the universe is the same everywhere
- cosmological simulation: simulation of the history of the universe
- cosmological time dilation: very distant events appear to take longer
- cosmological zoom simulation: cosmological simulation plus higher resolution simulations of selected space
- critical density (ρ_c): density of the universe which leaves it flat
- curvature: unflatness of space
- D56: a target survey field of ACT telescope
- dark age: interval when the universe's hydrogen atoms were neutral
- dark energy: energy theorized to accelerate the expansion of the universe
- Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI): new instrument for measuring red-shift of distant objects
- dark flow: non-random patterns in peculiar velocity of galaxy clusters
- decoupling: some type of particle stops being destroyed as often as it is created
- Deep Lens Survey (DLS): investigating mass distribution of the universe
- diffusion damping: a damping process within the plasma during recombination
- dwarf galaxy problem: theories have more dwarf galaxies than are observed
- EAGLE: simulation of galaxy formation and evolution
- early universe: from the Big Bang to recombination
- EBEX: balloon-based CMB polarization survey
- Einstein-de Sitter model: universe tuned to the smallest expansion that continues forever
- Enzo: hydrodynamic simulation system
- epoch of reionization (EOR): time when the universe's neutral hydrogen atoms ionized
- escape fraction: fraction of ionizing photons escaping a body
- ESSENCE: survey using supernova data to study dark energy
- false vacuum: apparent QM vacuum
- FIRE Simulations: high resolution simulation of galaxies
- foreground subtraction: removing unwanted sources of EMR in intensity mapping
- freeze-out: particles existing long-term after a decoupling
- Friedmann model: type of model of universe incorporating general relativity
- fuzzy dark matter (FDM): concept of extremely light dark matter particles
- GADGET-2: an n-body/SPH simulation computer program
- galaxy bias: degree to which galaxy density fails to correspond to dark matter density
- galaxy filament: thread-like formations of galaxies, 50 to 80 megaparsecs
- galaxy power spectrum: a power spectrum describing the occurrence of galaxies in space
- Gunn-Peterson trough: spectral feature in EMR from redshift 6+
- halo mass function: mass of distribution of dark matter
- hierarchical assembly of galaxies: development of large galaxies by combining small ones
- Hubble constant (H₀): current rate of expansion of the universe
- Hubble diagram: diagram comparing redshift with distance
- Hubble expansion: ongoing expansion of the universe
- inflation: theorized rapid expansion of the very early universe
- initial fluctuation spectrum: the power spectral density of the early universe
- initial fluctuations: early universe density variations leading to current universe
- intensity mapping: measure of cosmic matter density
- intergalactic dust: dust not within galaxies
- isotropy: uniformity in all directions
- Kapteyn universe: early 20th century model of the universe centered on the Milky Way
- Lambda-CDM model (ΛCDM,LCDM): Big-Bang cosmological model with a cosmological constant and cold dark matter
- large scale structure (LSS): the universe's structure as in placement of clusters
- LasDamas: simulations of large scale evolution of dark matter and galaxies
- Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS): search for supernovae for cosmological study
- LiteBIRD: planned spacecraft to map CMB polarization
- LSPE-SWIPE: plan for a balloon-based CMB polarization survey
- luminosity distance (d_L, D_L): distance to an object based upon the distance's effect on received flux
- Multi-Epoch Nearby Cluster Survey (MENeaCS): Type Ia supernova survey in clusters at z = 0.1
- N-point function: general term for analyses-techniques of spatial data
- NOAO Deep Wide-field Survey (NDWFS): survey investigating large scale structure of the universe
- observable universe: that part of the universe that we can conceivably observe
- Olbers' paradox: argument using the dark of the sky regarding the nature of the universe
- Pantheon: catalog of well-checked Type Ia supernovae
- particle horizon: furthest point from which light can reach us
- peak star-formation epoch: around 10 billion years ago when star formation peaked
- pion (π): first type of meson discovered
- primordial black hole: black holes forming at the most dense volumes when inflation ceased
- primordial gravitational waves: gravitational waves formed in the early universe
- PROMETHEUS/VERTEX: hydrodynamic simulation system
- protogalaxy: gas cloud forming a galaxy
- QUaD: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- quark-gluon plasma (QGP): extreme-temperature state of matter
- QUBIC: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- QUIET: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- radiation era: early universe era when radiation pressure dominated
- radio source counts: using radio source population characteristics to determine curvature
- RAMSES: hydrodynamic simulation system
- recombination: time when the universe's ionized hydrogen atoms neutralized
- redshift survey: survey of the universe aiming at three dimensions
- redshift-angular size relation: how observed size depends on redshift
- redshift-magnitude relation: how apparent magnitude depends on redshift
- reheating: theorized increase in temperature after cosmological inflation
- relic: particles left over from the events of the early universe
- repulsive dark matter (RDM): concept of dark matter that resists extreme dark-matter density
- RHAPSODY: simulation of galaxy cluster dark-matter halos
- Sachs-Wolfe effect (SWE,SWeffect): gravitational redshift of the CMB
- satellite plane problem: satellite galaxies inexplicably tend to fall in a plane
- scale factor (a): relative size of the universe as a function of time
- Scott effect: bias toward finding clusters that have bright galaxies
- spacetime diagram: graph of simplified spacetime, with fewer space dimensions
- Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZ effect,SZ,SZE): type of distortion of the CMB
- Supernova Cosmology Project (SCP): used supernova data to determine a history of the universe's expansion
- Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS): detect and monitor supernovae to measure the effects of dark energy
- surface of last scattering: sphere around us from which CMB photons are just reaching us
- symmetry breaking: loss of symmetry, such as due to loss of stability in a regime change
- Tenerife Experiment: 1980s-1990s survey of CMB anisotropies
- Theory of Everything (TOE): single law explaining the four forces of nature
- tired light: theory that light becomes red for reasons other than Doppler shift
- topological defect: defect in space that could arise in the early universe
- VIMOS-VLT Deep Survey (VVDS): spectroscopic survey of 100,000 high-redshift galaxies
- void: empty spaces between large scale structures
- Wide-field Multi-object Spectrograph (WFMOS): proposed instrument to detect baryon acoustic oscillations
- Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP): spacecraft that measured variations in the cosmic background radiation
- Zel'dovich approximation: model of the formation of cosmological structure
Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor:
- Cosmic Lens All-sky Survey (CLASS): radio survey aimed at gravitational lenses
cosmology simulation:
- cosmological simulation: simulation of the history of the universe
COSMOS:
- Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): investigation of dark matter and the universe's large scale structure
- cosmology: study of the life of the universe
- DEVILS: visible-light spectrographic survey of 56k distant galaxies
- FourStar Galaxy Evolution Survey (ZFOURGE,Z-FOURGE): infrared deep-survey to detect galaxies
- MIGHTEE: radio survey of four established deep fields
- SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey (SSS): survey of stars and galaxies from legacy plates
- Víctor M. Blanco Telescope: 4 m reflector telescope in Chile
COSMOS Field:
- Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS): investigation of dark matter and the universe's large scale structure
COSMOSOMAS: microwave survey
COSPIN:
- Ulysses: space mission to observe the Sun from off the ecliptic
COSTAR:
- Hubble Space Telescope (HST): observatory-satellite with 2.4 meter reflective telescope
COSTEP:
- Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO): satellite observing the Sun
COU:
- double star designation: Systems and format of double star designators
coudé focus:
- coudé focus telescope: type of Nasmyth telescope with additional mirrors
coudé focus telescope: type of Nasmyth telescope with additional mirrors
coulomb:
- tesla (T): unit of magnetic flux density
Coulomb force:
- Coulomb's law: static electrical force relation
- Vlasov-Poisson equation: equation describing plasma ignoring the magnetic field
Coulomb scattering:
- stellar encounter: stars passing close to each other
Coulomb's constant:
- Coulomb's law: static electrical force relation
Coulomb's law: static electrical force relation
- electric field (E): electric force as distributed over a space
Council of Giants: twelve large galaxies surrounding the Local Group
counterpart: image found at same coordinates using different EMR
coupling constant:
- quantum field theory (QFT): reworking of quantum mechanics incorporating fields
Courant condition:
- finite difference method (FDM): means of estimating calculus and differential equation solutions
Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy-condition:
- finite difference method (FDM): means of estimating calculus and differential equation solutions
covalent bond:
- adsorption: adhesion to a surface
- oxidation state: number of electrons loaned out by an atom in an ionic bond
CP:
- Bonner Durchmusterung Catalog (BD): well-known astrometric catalog from late 1800s
- chemically peculiar star (CP star): star with SED showing presence metals unusual for stars
- millisecond pulsar (MSP): pulsar spinning with a period in the range of milliseconds
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CP 1919:
- pulsar (PSR): type of astronomical body with EMR in regular cycles of seconds or less
CP star:
- chemically peculiar star (CP star): star with SED showing presence metals unusual for stars
CP symmetry:
- axion (A⁰): proposed light, electrically neutral elementary particle
CP1:
- chemically peculiar star (CP star): star with SED showing presence metals unusual for stars
CP2:
- chemically peculiar star (CP star): star with SED showing presence metals unusual for stars
CP3:
- chemically peculiar star (CP star): star with SED showing presence metals unusual for stars
CP4:
- chemically peculiar star (CP star): star with SED showing presence metals unusual for stars
CPC:
- IRAS: 1983 satellite that surveyed the sky in infrared
CPD:
- Bonner Durchmusterung Catalog (BD): well-known astrometric catalog from late 1800s
CPO:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CPR:
- circular polarization ratio (CPR): ratio of circular polarization handedness in reflected radar signal
CR:
- Collinder Catalog (Cr): 1930s catalog of 471 open clusters
- corotation resonance (CR): an orbital resonance with the same frequency as the orbit
- cosmic rays (CR): very-high-energy particles from beyond the solar system
Crab Nebula (M1): supernova remnant in Taurus
Crab Pulsar:
- Crab Nebula (M1): supernova remnant in Taurus
CRaTER:
- Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO): space probe orbiting the Moon
Crater 2:
- Milky Way subgroup: the Milky Way and its satellites
CRATES: catalog of 8.4 GHz data on radio sources
CRB:
- cosmic rays (CR): very-high-energy particles from beyond the solar system
CRIRES: high resolution IR echelle spectrometer
- European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope (ESO VLT,VLT): four 8.2-meter optical telescopes in Chile that can act together
CRIRES+:
- CRIRES: high resolution IR echelle spectrometer
CRIS:
- Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE): satellite collecting solar wind and cosmic rays
CRISM:
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO): Mars probe launched by NASA in 2005
critical density (ρ_c): density of the universe which leaves it flat
critical density of the universe:
- critical density (ρ_c): density of the universe which leaves it flat
critical point:
- supercritical fluid (SCF): state of matter at sufficient pressure and temperature
critical radius:
- circumbinary planet: exoplanet orbiting two stars
critical rotation:
- stellar rotation: rotation of a star around an axis through the middle
critical velocity:
- stellar rotation: rotation of a star around an axis through the middle
CRL:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
cross dispersion spectrograph: echelle spectrograph with additional disperser crosswise to the first
cross Dragone:
- Dragone telescope: off-axis reflector telescope type that preserves polarization
cross Dragone telescope:
- Dragone telescope: off-axis reflector telescope type that preserves polarization
cross section: "area" representation of probability of an interaction of particles
crossed-Dragone design:
- Dragone telescope: off-axis reflector telescope type that preserves polarization
crowdsource:
- Galaxy Zoo: crowdsourcing website to identify galaxy types from surveys
- Galaxy Zoo 2 (GZ2): crowd-sourced classification of hundreds of thousands of galaxies
- Planet Hunters (PH): crowdsourcing website to identify galaxy types from surveys
CRS:
- Voyager: space probes to observe planets and the edge of the solar system
CRTS:
- Catalina Sky Survey (CSS): survey of near-Earth objects
crust:
- load density: measure of rigidity of the crust of a body
crustal magnetism: magnetic fields independent of a world's core magnetic field
crustal plates: sections of the Earth's crust that move
cryogenic:
- cryogenic spectroscopy: laboratory spectroscopy of materials cooled to cryogenic temperatures
Cryogenic Infrared Echelle Spectrometer:
- CRIRES: high resolution IR echelle spectrometer
cryogenic spectroscopy: laboratory spectroscopy of materials cooled to cryogenic temperatures
cryolava:
- cryovolcano: eruption of substances that are liquid or gas at cold temperatures
cryovolcanism:
- cryovolcano: eruption of substances that are liquid or gas at cold temperatures
cryovolcano: eruption of substances that are liquid or gas at cold temperatures
crystal ice:
- snow line: distance from protostar cool enough for water to condense
crystal nucleation:
- supercooling: cooling water below freezing point without it freezing
crystal nucleus:
- supercooling: cooling water below freezing point without it freezing
crystalline ice:
- ice: solid state of water
CS:
- tracer: chemical whose presence indicates the presence of another chemical
CS60:
- High Altitude Observatory (HAO): NCAR unit observing and monitoring the Sun
CSA: includes astronomical research
- James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): future space-based 6.5 meter infrared telescope
- MOST: 2000s observatory-satellite looking for stellar oscillations
- NEOSSat: small spacecraft tracking NEOs
CSE:
- asymptotic giant branch (AGB): a second stage of helium burning in some stars
- planetary nebula (PN): gas shell ejected by a red giant
CSHELL:
- IRTF: Mauna Kea 3-meter infrared telescope
CSI:
- Carl Sagan Institute (CSI): group researching finding life on other planets and moons
- Catalog of Stellar Identifications (CSI): 1970s catalog cross referencing existing star catalogs
CSIRO:
- ATNF Pulsar Catalogue: online catalog of pulsars
- Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA): radio telescope in eastern Australia
CSM:
- superluminous supernova (SLSN): stellar explosion larger than a supernova
CSMF:
- conditional stellar mass function (CSMF): function characterizing galaxies within a halo of a given mass
CSN:
- stellar nucleus: group of many stars at the center of a galaxy
CSO:
- Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO): 10.4 meter submillimeter telescope in Hawaii
- Mauna Kea: Hawaiian mountain, the site of observatories
- Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO): observatories on Mauna Kea in Hawaii
CSO-JCMT interferometer:
- Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO): 10.4 meter submillimeter telescope in Hawaii
CSP:
- Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP): survey of supernovae lightcurves
CSPN:
- planetary nebula (PN): gas shell ejected by a red giant
CSPNe:
- planetary nebula (PN): gas shell ejected by a red giant
CSS:
- Catalina Sky Survey (CSS): survey of near-Earth objects
- Hubble Space Telescope (HST): observatory-satellite with 2.4 meter reflective telescope
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CSV:
- New Catalogue of Suspected Variable Stars (NSV): catalog from latter half of 20th century catalog
CT scan:
- tomography: observation of sections of a 3D object
CTA:
- Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA): ground gamma-ray telescope array in development
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CTB:
- rare designator prefixes: designator prefixes generally used for only a few objects
CTIO:
- Calán/Tololo Survey: late 1980s to early 1990s search to redshift 0.1
- Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO): NOAO observatory in Chile with Blanco telescope
- CTIO Upper-Scorpius OB Association Survey (UScoCTIO): survey of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs
- Dark Energy Survey (DES): survey aimed at mapping the universe's expansion
- DECaLS: survey imaging part of SDSS footprint with DECam
- Deep Lens Survey (DLS): investigating mass distribution of the universe
- Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO): NRAO observatory in Arizona with Mayall telescope
- Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC): optical/NIR survey of four deep fields
- National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO): US optical astronomy organization
- NOAO Deep Wide-field Survey (NDWFS): survey investigating large scale structure of the universe
- SOAR: 4.1 m reflector telescope in Chile
- USNO Twin Astrograph: USNO astrograph deployed in 1970
- Víctor M. Blanco Telescope: 4 m reflector telescope in Chile
CTIO 1.5m:
- Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO): NOAO observatory in Chile with Blanco telescope
- CTIO Upper-Scorpius OB Association Survey (UScoCTIO): survey of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs
- SIMP: 2000s infrared proper-motion survey
- The Survey for Ionization in Neutral Gas Galaxies (SINGG): survey of H-alpha in galaxies found through the HI line
CTIO Schmidt Camera:
- Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO): NOAO observatory in Chile with Blanco telescope
- CTIO Upper-Scorpius OB Association Survey (UScoCTIO): survey of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs
- The Survey for Ionization in Neutral Gas Galaxies (SINGG): survey of H-alpha in galaxies found through the HI line
CTIO Upper-Scorpius OB Association Survey (UScoCTIO): survey of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs
CTTS:
- T-Tauri star (TTS): type of variable pre-main-sequence star
CTX:
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO): Mars probe launched by NASA in 2005
cubewano:
- Kuiper Belt (K Belt,KB): further part of solar system beyond Neptune
Curiosity:
- Mars: well-explored planet in the solar system
- Mars Science Laboratory (MSL): mission to Mars with rover
curl:
- mathematical field: function of three variables, potentially representing space
- Poisson's equation: relates one function's Laplacian to another function
- vortensity (PV): ratio of vorticity to mass density
- vortex: fluid region where the flow is spinning
current:
- siemens (S): SI unit of electrical conductance
current sheet: narrow sheet within a magnetic field where current flows
Curtis-Shapley Debate:
- Great Debate: historical debate regarding the nature of galaxies
curvature: unflatness of space
- wormhole: connection between two regions in a curved space
curvature fluctuation amplitude:
- Lambda-CDM model (ΛCDM,LCDM): Big-Bang cosmological model with a cosmological constant and cold dark matter
curvature radiation: synchrotron-like radiation when particles follow curved field lines
curvature scalar:
- curvature: unflatness of space
curvature sensor:
- wavefront sensor: instrument for determining a wave's deformation
curve of growth:
- line broadening: processes causing a spectral line to have width
curved space:
- curvature: unflatness of space
cusp:
- core-cusp problem: theories and observation show different dwarf galaxy rotation curves
cut-off frequency:
- thermal bremsstrahlung: type of EMR produced by thin, hot plasma
CV:
- cataclysmic variable star (CV): star whose magnitude is much brighter on occasion
CvB:
- cosmic background radiation (CBR): electromagnetic radiation coming from every direction
CVZ:
- continuous viewing zone (CVZ): region of sky that can be viewed 7×24×365
CWFM:
- frequency modulation (FM): changing the frequency of a signal's carrier
CWI:
- Hale Telescope: 5.1 m reflector telescope in California
CXB:
- cosmic background radiation (CBR): electromagnetic radiation coming from every direction
- cosmic X-ray background (CXB,CXRB,CXBR): X-ray radiation coming from outside the Milky Way
CXBR:
- cosmic X-ray background (CXB,CXRB,CXBR): X-ray radiation coming from outside the Milky Way
CXC:
- Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO): space X-ray telescope
CXE:
- HEAO-1: 1977 X-ray observatory space mission
CXO:
- Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO): space X-ray telescope
CXOU:
- Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO): space X-ray telescope
CXRB:
- cosmic X-ray background (CXB,CXRB,CXBR): X-ray radiation coming from outside the Milky Way
Cybele:
- asteroid family: set of asteroids based on similar orbits
cycloalkane:
- hydrocarbon (HC): any compound of just carbon and hydrogen
cyclotron:
- cyclotron radiation: radiation emitted when charged particles are accelerated
cyclotron frequency:
- cyclotron radiation: radiation emitted when charged particles are accelerated
cyclotron radiation: radiation emitted when charged particles are accelerated
- electron scattering: any process that changes the course of an electron
Cygnus A (3C 405,QSO B1957+405): early-discovered radio galaxy and quasar
Cygnus OB2-12:
- hypergiant: extremely bright stars
Cygnus X Star Forming Region:
- Dickel-Wendker-Bieritz Catalog (DWB): list of HII regions in the Cygnus X star forming region
cylindrical radio telescope:
- cylindrical telescope: telescope with cylindrical reflectors
cylindrical telescope: telescope with cylindrical reflectors
Cz:
- Czernik Catalog (Cz): list of open clusters
Czernik:
- Czernik Catalog (Cz): list of open clusters
Czernik Catalog (Cz): list of open clusters
Czernik Open Cluster Catalogue:
- Czernik Catalog (Cz): list of open clusters

Index