Columbia Encyclopedia
Search results
500 results found
Sun, river, United States
(Encyclopedia)Sun, river, c.130 mi (210 km) long, rising in the Rocky Mts., NW Mont., and flowing generally E to the Missouri River at Great Falls. The Sun River project of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation utilizes t...limb darkening
(Encyclopedia)limb darkening: see sun.Tropic of Cancer
(Encyclopedia)Tropic of Cancer, parallel of latitude at 23°30′ north of the equator; it is the northern boundary of the tropics. This parallel marks the farthest point north at which the sun can be seen directly...solar constant
(Encyclopedia)solar constant, the average amount of radiant energy received by the earth's atmosphere from the sun; its value is about 2 calories per min incident on each square centimeter of the upper atmosphere. ...Aristarchus of Samos
(Encyclopedia)Aristarchus of Samos ărˌĭstärˈkəs, sāˈmŏs [key], fl. c.310 b.c.–c.230 b.c., Greek astronomer and mathematician of the Alexandrian school. He is said to have been the first to propose a heli...corona, in astronomy
(Encyclopedia)corona, luminous envelope surrounding the sun, outside the chromosphere. Its density is less than one billionth that of the earth's atmosphere. The corona is visible only at the time of totality durin...rainbow
(Encyclopedia)rainbow, arc showing the colors of the spectrum, violet inside and red outside, which appears when the sun shines through water droplets. It often appears while the sun is shining after a brief thunde...photosphere
(Encyclopedia)photosphere, luminous, apparently opaque layer of gases that forms the visible surface of the sun or any other star. The photosphere lies between the dense interior gases and the more attenuated gases...coronagraph
(Encyclopedia)coronagraph kərōˈnəgrăfˌ [key], device invented by the French astronomer B. Lyot (1931) for the purpose of observing the corona of the sun and solar prominences occurring in the chromosphere. Be...Fraunhofer lines
(Encyclopedia)Fraunhofer lines frounˈhôfər [key]: see sun. ...Browse by Subject
- Earth and the Environment +-
- History +-
- Literature and the Arts +-
- Medicine +-
- People +-
- Philosophy and Religion +-
-
Places
+-
- Africa
- Asia
- Australia and Oceania
- Britain, Ireland, France, and the Low Countries
- Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic Nations
- Germany, Scandinavia, and Central Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Oceans, Continents, and Polar Regions
- Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and the Balkans
- United States, Canada, and Greenland
- Plants and Animals +-
- Science and Technology +-
- Social Sciences and the Law +-
- Sports and Everyday Life +-