Dictionary of Space Concepts

Image:

Source:

https://www.dw.com/en/volcanic-eruptions-can-cool-the-planet/a-40727123

Short Definition:

A volcano is a hill or mountain with a hole where lava, rocks, or gas may be seen erupting from a planet or moon's interior.

Detailed Definition:

A crack in the earth's crust through which substances such as lava, steam, ashes, etc. are released continually or sporadically. Volcanoes are known to exist on the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, Mars, and the moon Io of Jupiter. Only two of these bodies currently have active volcanoes: Earth and Io. However, Venus or Europa, the moon of Jupiter, may have volcanoes erupting.

Etymology:

Volcano comes from the Latin Vulcanus, which is the name of the fire god.

Sample Sentence(s):

The volcano's lava was pouring down the mountainside.

On the seabed of Jupiter's moon Europa, there has been volcanic activity.

Translations of Terms/Concepts into Partner Languages

French: volcan

German: Vulkan

Polish: wulkan

Swedish: vulkan

Links to Videos/Articles:

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/topic/volcanoes

https://chandra.harvard.edu/press/10_releases/press_081810.html

Image/Video/Audio:

Image/Video/Audio Source:

File:White dwarf.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. (2011, April 5). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:White_dwarf.jpg

Short Definition:

White dwarfs, or cold stars, is a term often used to describe stars in the final stages of their evolution. These stars, which lose their energy sources and cannot perform fusion reactions, are the stars that tend to squeeze into themselves due to the gravitational law. This phenomenon was firstly discovered by the British astronomer 'William Herschel' in 1783.

Detailed Definition:

As one of the densest stellar remnants in space, white dwarfs are stars that have run out of most of their nuclear fuel and tend to collapse inwards. These stars, which are relatively Earth-sized and composed entirely of carbon and oxygen mass, are less than 1.4 solar masses when their cores are stable, but they tend to suffer constant heat and radiation loss because they do not undergo any fusion process. According to NASA's calculations, the core temperatures of white dwarfs can reach up to 100,000 Kelvin. Apart from the carbon and oxygen mass that make up their core, their envelope are surrounded by thin helium and in some cases hydrogen atoms.

Etymology:

White - from Proto-Indo-European (ḱweydós)

Dwarf - from Proto-Germanic (dwergaz)

(white - Wiktionary. (n.d.). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/white)

(dwarf - Wiktionary. (n.d.). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dwarf)

Sample Sentence(s):

‘’White dwarfs evolve from stars with an initial mass of up to three or four solar masses or even possibly higher.’’

(The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, July 20). White dwarf star | Definition, Size, Mass, Life Cycles, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/white-dwarf-star)

‘’White dwarfs reach this incredible density because they are collapsed so tightly that their electrons are smashed together, forming what is called "degenerate matter.’’

(Dobrijevic, D., & Tillman, N. T. (2022, March 4). White dwarfs: Facts about the dense stellar remnants. Space.com. https://www.space.com/23756-white-dwarf-stars.html)

Translations of Terms/Concepts into Partner Languages:

French:

Naine blanche

German:

Weißer Zwerg

Polish:

Biały karzeł

Swedish:

Vit dvärg

Turkish:

Beyaz Cüce

Links to Videos/Articles:

Dobrijevic, D., & Tillman, N. T. (2022, March 4). White dwarfs: Facts about the dense stellar remnants. Space.com. https://www.space.com/23756-white-dwarf-stars.html

Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell. (2017, May 4). The Last Light Before Eternal Darkness – White Dwarfs & Black Dwarfs [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsN1LglrX9s

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, July 20). White dwarf star | Definition, Size, Mass, Life Cycles, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/white-dwarf-star

White Dwarfs. (2021, May 4). Science. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/white-dwarfs