Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The point at which an object is closest to the center of mass of the star it is orbiting.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In the orbit of any heavenly body which moves around another, the point where the former approaches nearest to the primary: usually applied to double stars, but also generally to any satellite.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Astron.) That point, in the real or apparent orbit of one star revolving around another, at which the former is nearest to the latter.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun astronomy That point of the
orbit of a celestial body which is closest to thestar around which the body is orbiting.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word periastron.
Examples
-
With these simple starting parameters, Kashi showed that it was possible to produce a situation in which the onset of eruptions was similar to the periastron approach.
Do Eruptions of P Cygni Point to a Companion? | Universe Today 2010
-
I therefore predict that a continuous 7 year long observation of pronounced lines may reveal a small doppler shift variation, close to the periastron passage.
Do Eruptions of P Cygni Point to a Companion? | Universe Today 2010
-
In this scenario, as a smaller companion in the system came on its closest approach periastron the outer layers of the LBV, which are already unstable and loosely bound due to the size of the star, are pulled off due to tidal forces.
Do Eruptions of P Cygni Point to a Companion? | Universe Today 2010
-
Importantly, any captured star would form a highly elliptical orbit, whose periastron encounters would strip the outer layers of both stars, leaving their hotter cores exposed – the blue stragglers we see.
Blue Stragglers Can Be Either Vampires or Stellar Bad-Boys | Universe Today 2009
-
In the middle of the short but furious northern summer, which includes periastron, total insolation is more than double what Earth gets; in the depth of the long northern winter, it is barely less than Terrestrial average.
The Queen of Air and Darkness Anderson, Poul, 1926-2001 1973
-
We won't be under any such extreme condition, but I don't expect they can track us around periastron.
A Circus of Hells Anderson, Poul, 1926- 1969
-
Then summer was the six-month period during which Talwin passed from one of those points, through periastron, to the other end of the line segment.
A Circus of Hells Anderson, Poul, 1926- 1969
-
The planet's axial inclination was 24-, and northern midsummer fell nearly at periastron.
Agent Of The Terran Empire Anderson, Poul, 1926- 1965
-
It was midwinter, but also periastron; only long nights and frequent rains marked the season in this hemisphere.
Agent Of The Terran Empire Anderson, Poul, 1926- 1965
-
These orbs complete a revolution in 180 years, and when in apastron are seventeen times more remote from each other than when at periastron.
The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost' Thomas Nathaniel Orchard
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.