Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort:
Hottest Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Type:
All Topic Review Biography
Topic Review
Asterism
An asterism is an observed pattern or group of stars in the sky. Asterisms can be any identified pattern or group of stars, and therefore are a more general concept than the formally defined 88 constellations. Constellations are based on asterisms, but unlike asterisms, constellations outline and today completely divide the sky and all its celestial objects into regions around their central asterisms. For example, the asterism known as the Big Dipper comprises the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major. Another is the asterism of the Southern Cross, within the constellation of Crux. Asterisms range from simple shapes of just a few stars to more complex collections of many stars covering large portions of the sky. The stars themselves may be bright naked-eye objects or fainter, even telescopic, but they are generally all of a similar brightness to each other. The larger brighter asterisms are useful for people who are familiarizing themselves with the night sky. The patterns of stars seen in asterisms are not necessarily a product of any physical association between the stars, but are rather the result of the particular perspectives of their observations. For example the Summer Triangle is a purely observational physically unrelated group of stars, but the stars of Orion's Belt are all members of the Orion OB1 association and five of the seven stars of the Big Dipper are members of the Ursa Major Moving Group. Physical associations, such as the Hyades or Pleiades, can be asterisms in their own right and part of other asterism at the same time.
  • 1.2K
  • 29 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Sessile Drop Technique
The sessile drop technique is a method used for the characterization of solid surface energies, and in some cases, aspects of liquid surface energies. The main premise of the method is that by placing a droplet of liquid with a known surface energy, the shape of the drop, specifically the contact angle, and the known surface energy of the liquid are the parameters which can be used to calculate the surface energy of the solid sample. The liquid used for such experiments is referred to as the probe liquid, and the use of several different probe liquids is required.
  • 609
  • 29 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Mid-Infrared External Cavity Quantum Cascade Lasers
External cavity quantum cascade lasers (ECQCLs) in the mid-infrared band have a series of unique spectral properties, which can be widely used in spectroscopy, gas detection, protein detection, medical diagnosis, free space optical communication, and so on, especially wide tuning range, the tuning range up to hundreds of wavenumbers; therefore, ECQCLs show great applications potential in many fields. 
  • 506
  • 29 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Jpsi Meson
The J/ψ (J/psi) meson /ˈdʒeɪ ˈsaɪ ˈmiːzɒn/ or psion is a subatomic particle, a flavor-neutral meson consisting of a charm quark and a charm antiquark. Mesons formed by a bound state of a charm quark and a charm anti-quark are generally known as "charmonium". The J/ψ is the most common form of charmonium, due to its spin of 1 and its low rest mass. The J/ψ has a rest mass of 3.0969 GeV/c2, just above that of the ηc (2.9836 GeV/c2), and a mean lifetime of 7.2×10−21 s. This lifetime was about a thousand times longer than expected. Its discovery was made independently by two research groups, one at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, headed by Burton Richter, and one at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, headed by Samuel Ting of MIT. They discovered they had actually found the same particle, and both announced their discoveries on 11 November 1974. The importance of this discovery is highlighted by the fact that the subsequent, rapid changes in high-energy physics at the time have become collectively known as the "November Revolution". Richter and Ting were awarded the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physics.
  • 500
  • 29 Nov 2022
Topic Review
VSOP (Planets)
The semi-analytic planetary theory VSOP (French: Variations Séculaires des Orbites Planétaires) is a mathematical model describing long-term changes (secular variation) in the orbits of the planets Mercury to Neptune. The earliest modern scientific model considered only the gravitational attraction between the Sun and each planet, with the resulting orbits being unvarying Keplerian ellipses. In reality, all the planets exert slight forces on each other, causing slow changes in the shape and orientation of these ellipses. Increasingly complex analytical models have been made of these deviations, as well as efficient and accurate numerical approximation methods. VSOP was developed and is maintained (updated with the latest data) by the scientists at the Bureau des Longitudes in Paris. The first version, VSOP82, computed only the orbital elements at any moment. An updated version, VSOP87, computed the positions of the planets directly at any moment, as well as their orbital elements with improved accuracy. At present, the difference between computational predictions and observations is so small that the model seems essentially complete in its physical principles. Such hypothetical deviations are often referred to as post-Keplerian effects.
  • 449
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Chemical Reaction Rate
The reaction rate for a reactant or product in a particular reaction is defined as the amount of the chemical that is formed or removed (in moles or mass units) per unit time per unit volume. Knowledge of these rates is essential in, among other disciplines, chemical engineering and environmental engineering. Chemical kinetics is the part of physical chemistry which studies reaction rates.
  • 563
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Orion Service Module
The Orion service module is the service module component of the Orion spacecraft, serving as its primary power and propulsion component until it is discarded at the end of each mission. In January 2013, NASA announced that the European Space Agency (ESA) will contribute the service module for Artemis 1, replacing the previous design. Based on ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), the new design is also known as the European service module (ESM). The service module supports the crew module from launch through separation prior to reentry. It provides in-space propulsion capability for orbital transfer, attitude control, and high altitude ascent aborts. It provides the water and oxygen needed for a habitable environment, generates and stores electrical power, and maintains the temperature of the vehicle's systems and components. This module can also transport unpressurized cargo and scientific payloads.
  • 796
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Transit of Venus, 2012
The 2012 transit of Venus, when the planet Venus appeared as a small, dark spot passing across the face of the Sun, began at 22:09 UTC on 5 June 2012, and finished at 04:49 UTC on 6 June. Depending on the position of the observer, the exact times varied by up to ±7 minutes. Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable celestial phenomena and occur in pairs. Consecutive transits per pair are spaced 8 years apart, and consecutive pairs occur more than a century apart: The previous transit of Venus took place on 8 June 2004 (preceded by transits on 9 December 1874 and 6 December 1882); the next pair of transits will occur on 10–11 December 2117 and in December 2125.
  • 439
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
List of Unnumbered Minor Planets: 2003 A–R
This is a partial list of unnumbered minor planets for principal designations assigned between 1 January 2003 and 15 September 2003 (A–R).
  • 220
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Half-Reaction
A half reaction (or half-cell reaction) is either the oxidation or reduction reaction component of a redox reaction. A half reaction is obtained by considering the change in oxidation states of individual substances involved in the redox reaction. Often, the concept of half reactions is used to describe what occurs in an electrochemical cell, such as a Galvanic cell battery. Half reactions can be written to describe both the metal undergoing oxidation (known as the anode) and the metal undergoing reduction (known as the cathode). Half reactions are often used as a method of balancing redox reactions. For oxidation-reduction reactions in acidic conditions, after balancing the atoms and oxidation numbers, one will need to add H+ ions to balance the hydrogen ions in the half reaction. For oxidation-reduction reactions in basic conditions, after balancing the atoms and oxidation numbers, first treat it as an acidic solution and then add OH− ions to balance the H+ ions in the half reactions (which would give H2O).
  • 3.1K
  • 28 Nov 2022
  • Page
  • of
  • 118
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Books

>>
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of COVID-19
Encyclopedia of Fungi
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Video Production Service
Feedback