upload
California Institute of Technology
Industry:
Number of terms: 3726
Number of blossaries: 0
Company Profile:
1) An elementary particle of opposite charge but otherwise identical to its partner. Most of the observable universe consists of particles and matter, as opposed to antiparticles and antimatter. 2) Atomic particles that have the same mass as, but opposite charge and orbital direction to, an ordinary particle. Thus, instead of negatively charged electrons, atoms of antimatter have positrons. A quantity of antimatter coming into contact with matter would "cancel out" - annihilate, with total conversion of mass to energy - an exact proportion of matter corresponding to the original quantity of antimatter, provided that the elements in the matter also corresponded with the "elements" in the antimatter, i.e., that the atoms were equivalent but opposite. 3) For every known type of particle, there exists an antiparticle with exactly the same mass, but with the opposite electric charge. When a particle and its antiparticle come together, they can always annihilate to form gamma rays. The antiparticle of an electrically neutral particle is sometimes the same as the original particle (e.g., photons) and sometimes it is distinct (e.g., neutrons.) 4) Particles predicted by combining the theories of special relativity and quantum mechanics. For each particle, there must exist an antiparticle with the opposite charge, magnetic moment and other internal quantum numbers (e.g., lepton number, baryon number, strangeness, charm, etc.), but with the same mass, spin and lifetime. Note that certain neutral particles (such as the photon and π0) are their own antiparticles. 5) Particles with identical mass and spin as those of ordinary matter, but with opposite charge. Antimatter has been produced experimentally, but little of it is found in nature. Why this should be so is one of the questions that must be answered by any adequate theory of the early universe.
Industry:Astronomy
The antiparticle of a proton, identical in mass and spin but of opposite (negative) charge.
Industry:Astronomy
The antiparticle of the quark.
Industry:Astronomy
Also AR coating. A layer of material of lower refractive index of just the right thickness (1/4 wave) is deposited on the optical surface to be coated. More complex coatings are possible which cover a large wavelength range.
Industry:Astronomy
The point in the orbit of one component of a binary system which is farthest from the center of mass of the system.
Industry:Astronomy
The point at which a body in orbit around the Earth reaches its farthest distance from the Earth.
Industry:Astronomy
an object made by humans
Industry:Astronomy
a satellite made by humans which is gravitationaly bound and in orbit of a larger physical object
Industry:Astronomy
Also called planetoids or minor planets, the asteroids are tiny planets most of which orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. The largest - and the first discovered - is Ceres, with a diameter of 1,003 km. It is estimated that there may altogether be no fewer than 40000. A few have very elliptical orbits and cross the orbits of several other (major) planets. One or two even have their own satellites (moons.)
Industry:Astronomy
A region of space lying between Mars (1.5 AU) and Jupiter (5.2 AU), where the great majority of the asteroids are found. None of the belt asteroids have retrograde motion.
Industry:Astronomy