Astronomical Dictionary Page #8

Sapas

In Phoenician mythology, goddess of commerce and travel, and messenger of the gods....

Saturn

Planet sixth in order from the sun. In Roman mythology, god of agriculture, and father of Jupiter (G...

Scarp

A cliff or steep slope of some extent that may form a marked topographic boundary....

Schiaparelli

Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli (1835-1910). Italian astronomer at the Milan Observatory who reported...

Shearing

The motion resulting from stresses that cause or tend to cause contiguous parts of a body to slide r...

Shield volcano

A broad volcanic cone with gentle slopes constructed of successive nonviscous, mostly basaltic, lava...

Sif

In Scandinavian mythology, the grain goddess renowned for her long golden hair. Mate of the thunder...

SIR C X SAR

Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X- Band Synthetic Aperture Radar. An instrument that performs detaile...

Slumping

A landslide that results from the downward sliding of rock debris as a single mass, usually with a b...

Stickney

Angeline Stickney (1830-1892) The wife of Asaph Hall, known for her persistent encouragement of her ...

Stratosphere

An upper portion of a planetary atmosphere, above the troposphere and below the ionosphere, characte...

Tectonic

Relating to the deformation of the crust of a moon or planet, the forces involved in or producing su...

Terminator

The line separating the illuminated and unilluminated parts of a celestial body; the dividing line b...

Transit

The apparent journey of Mercury or Venus across the Sun's disc, or of a planet's moon across the dis...

Terrestrial

Belonging to the class of planets that are similar to the Earth in density and composition (i.e. Mer...

Tethys

In Greek mythology, a sea goddess....

Theia

Pre-Hellenic goddess of light, mother of the dawn. In Greek mythology, mother of Helios (the Sun) an...

Titan

In Greek mythology, Titans were the firstborn children of Uranus (the sky) and Gaea (the Earth). The...

Topography

The shape and form of the surface of a planet....

Triton

In Greek mythology, merman, half-man, half-fish. Son of Poseidon and Amphitrite....

Trough

A long linear depression....

Umbra

From the Latin for shade, it is the shadow area defining a total eclipse, or the dark central region...

Uranus

anet seventh in order from the sun. In Greek mythology, god of the sky, mate of the goddess of the E...

Variable Star

Any star whose brightness or magnitude varies with time. The variations can be intrinsic because of ...

Valhalla

In Norse mythology, Odin's hall, where he received the souls of slain warriors....