UNIVERSEH: The European Space University

Source: Hoover, S. (2013, July 21). wikimedia commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28974343

Barycenter is a theoretical point that has several meanings according to the field in which it is employed:

• In mathematics, this is the intersection point between the three medians of a triangle.
  
• In statistics, this is the average of a set of numbers.
  
• In physics, this is the center of mass of a system.
  

Detailed Definition:

The barycenter is a theoretical point usually with a mathematical value, which has different meanings depending on the field to which it is applied. From its etymology, Barycenter is usually used to express the center or average of a distribution of objects, values or data.

Originally, the mathematician and physicist Archimède introduced and described the notion of barycenter around 300 B.C.E. He first approached it from a physical perspective by stating: “Every heavy body has a well-defined centre of gravity in which all the weight of the body can be considered concentrated."

In astronomy, this notion describes the point around which a celestial body and its/their satellite(s) rotate. The illustration below depicts the barycenter with the red cross in the middle as well as the two bodies of different mass orbiting around it.

Etymology:

Barycenter comes from ancient Greek. Bary: βάρος (báros, “weight”) + center which comes from the Latin of centrum or even earlier from ancient Greek as kentron, κέντρον (single point). 

Sample Sentence:

"How well we understand the Solar System’s barycenter is critical as we attempt to sense even the smallest tingle to the web.”

Translations:

• Arabic: :مركز الثّقل
• French: Barycentre
• German: Baryzentrum (auch: Massenmittelpunkt)
• Italian: Baricentro
• Luxembourgish: Baryzentrum
• Polish: barycentrum, środek ciężkości
  
• Swedish: Barycentrum

Links to Videos/Articles:

Short definition: Cosmic rays are high energy particles that travel through space at nearly the speed of light. Most cosmic rays are represented by atomic nuclei stripped of their atoms.

Detailed definition: Cosmic rays were discovered by Victor Hess in 1912. They originate from the Sun, from the Milky Way, and from distant galaxies. Most cosmic rays (89%) are protons of hydrogen, but some of them are nuclei of helium (around 10%) and other, heavier nuclei. Only about 1% of cosmic rays are lone electrons. Once a cosmic ray reaches the Earth’s atmosphere, it collides with other atoms there and bursts them into different particles, namely pions, muons and neutrinos.
The extremely high energy that cosmic rays have often causes electronics to malfunction: for example, corrupted data in memory devices or incorrect performance in CPUs. Cosmic rays used to be a problem mainly in spacecraft, satellites and high-altitude aircraft, but is becoming a concern in regular electronics too due to transistors becoming smaller in size.

Etymology: Cosmic comes from Ancient Greek κόσμος (kósmos, “order, proper order of the world”). The term ray likely arose because cosmic rays were initially believed to be electromagnetic radiation.

Sample sentence(s): Cosmic rays follow convoluted paths and arrive at the top of the Earth’s atmosphere from all directions.

Translations:

French: Rayonnement cosmique

German: Kosmische Strahlung

Italian: Raggi cosmici

Polish: Promieniowanie kosmiczne, promienie kosmiczne

Swedish:  Kosmiska partiklar

Links to Videos/Articles:

Cosmic Rays - Introduction. (n.d.). https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/cosmic_rays1.html

Friedlander, M. W. (2023, April 21). Cosmic ray | Definition, Types, Effects, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/cosmic-ray

Vox. (2019, August 30). The mysterious rays shooting at us from space [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Z9gQLELtbhg

Short Definition:

The chemistry of cosmic objects or the chemistry of objects in space, such as the chemistry of the Moon, Mars, the Sun, asteroids, quasars, etc. and their effects on each other. 

Detailed Definition:

Cosmochemistry is the study of the chemical compositions of matter in the universe and the processes that led to those compositions. Cosmochemistry is primarily done by studying the chemical compositions of cosmic objects or the chemistry of objects in space.

Etymology:

Cosmo = kosmos (latin) + Chemistry = Alchemy (Greek), khēmia (Egyptician)

Sample Sentence:

“The spectral research on sulphur-containing radicals is of great significance in many fields such as atmospheric chemistry, combustion chemistry, cosmochemistry and so on.”

Translations:

• French: Chimie Cosmique
• German: Kosmochemie
• Polish: kosmochemia, chemia kosmiczna
• Swedish: Kosmokemi
  

Links to Videos/Articles:

Image:

 Source: 

Short Definition:

The concept of an organized system with pattern and order in the universe.

Detailed Definition:

The idea of the physical universe as a whole system, one having order and pattern. The understanding of the cosmos has been evolving with new discoveries about the universe. This leads to the definition of cosmology as the history of the study of the cosmos as a whole.

Etymology:

Cosmos comes from the Latin Kosmos, which means order or world.

Sample Sentence(s):

The cosmos may now be represented digitally by scientists.

Scientists are hunting for hints as to how the universe came into being.

Translations of Terms/Concepts into Partner Languages

French: cosmos

German: Kosmos

Polish: kosmos

Swedish: kosmos

Links to Videos/Articles:

https://www.nationalgeographicla.com/cosmos

Source: https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2346/73031/ICES_2017_235.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y

Short Definition:

An enclosure that constitutes a closed environment developed for the purpose of simulating lunar conditions and allow for the testing of material behaviour in such a space.

Detailed Definition:

A sealed enclosure used to simulate lunar environment using artificial medias such as a solar lamp, a regolith simulant, a vacuum pump, radiation elements, and heating and cooling elements. The chamber can be used for testing of devices such as rover mobility, drills, motors, gears, bearings and other types of experiments.

Sample Sentence(s):

“Dr. Karol will use the dirty vacuum chamber (aka DVac) to test the developed DIGGER experiment to verify its performance in simulated lunar environment, because the DVac can simulate not only vacuum similar to the Moon, but also the dusty environment of the Moon, the thermal conditions and vibrations.”

Translations:

• French: Chambre à vide empoussiérée
  
• German: Staubige Vakuumkammer 
• Persian: محفظه خلاء غبارآلود (Mahfaze khalae ghobar Aaloud)
• Polish: Brudna Komora Próżniowa
  
• Swedish: Dammig vakuumkammare

Links to Videos/Articles:

ICES_2017_235.pdf (tdl.org)

Source:

Short definition: 

An ephemeris is a table or data file that gives the positions of celestial objects at specific times.

Detailed Definition:

An ephemeris is a detailed table or data file that provides the positions of celestial objects in the sky at specific times. Ephemerides are used in astronomy to predict the future positions of these objects and to understand their orbits and movements. They can be calculated for any point in time and are usually given for a series of times at regular intervals, such as every day or every hour. Initially ephemerides were written, then printed, nowadays, they are digital. Ephemerides of the Solar System play a crucial role in navigating spacecraft.

Etymology:

ephemeris (Latin) - diary; ephemeris (Greek) - diary, journal

Sample Sentence(s):

"I consulted an ephemeris to find out when the next solar eclipse would occur."

"The astronomer used an ephemeris to predict when the comet would be visible in the sky."

"Ephemerides are widely used in astrology."

Translations:

French:

Éphéméride

German:

Ephemeriden

Polish:

Efemeryda

Swedish:

Efemerid

Links to videos/articles:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephemeris

https://www.astro.com/swisseph/swepha_e.htm

https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/

Source: https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf3.myportfolio.com/cf59f354b34391ef9ddbec41a1409bef/ece2a825-e54c-4ea4-a57c-bc1f3e901591_rw_1920.jpg?h=e8d9d5ab3208bd43c08d7702b9ec2c74

Short Definition:

The equation of time is a result of the difference between the daytime on Earth and the position of the sun.

Detailed Definition:

The equation of time exists because the orbit of the Earth around the sun is elliptical (where the orbit is not centered around the sun) and not circular which results in a difference in speed around the elliptical orbit as a difference in the length of the Earth days.

The equation is the following:

EOT =GHA- GMHA where EOT is the equation of time, GHA is the Greenwich Hour Angle of the apparent sun and GMHA is the Universal Time-Off.

As a result, the 21./22. December is the shortest day of a year, the real local time (WOZ) results in uneven long hours and the middle time (MOZ) results in a sun orbit, which is unsymmetrical to the time.

Etymology:

Equation - latin aequationem (" an equal distribution, a sharing in common")

Time -  Proto-Germanic Timon-/timi ("Time, proper time")

Sample Sentence(s):

" The equation of time is the reason a Analemma( a diagramm which shows the position of the sun from one point at a specific time over a year) can be seen"

Translation:

French:

équation du temps

German:

Zeitgleichung

Image source: https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2019/09/euclid_spacecraft/19709645-1-eng-GB/Euclid_spacecraft.jpg

Short Definition:

The euclid mission is project, being prepared by ESA to investigate dark matter as well as dark energy. At this moment, it is planned to launch the mission in the year 2023 (no specific date is set yet).

The planned time the mission will take is set for six years and can be extended, but is limited by the amount of cold gas propulsion.

Detailed definition:

ESA has started the euclid mission is a project to try to investigate dark matter as well as dark energy. The spacecraft consists of a camera in the visible wavelength and a camera /spectrometer which works in the near-infrared area.

It will launch from the Europe'sSpaceport in Kourou, which is located in French Guiana, and will move in an orbit which is halo shaped around the Sun-Earth Lagrange point.

Another aspect which will be inspected by the mission is the reason why the expansion of the universe in accelerating and how the evolution of the universe took place, to gain more information about fundamental physics and cosmology.

Etymology:

Euclid - Greek euclid ("renowned, glorious")

mission -Latin missionem ("act of sending a dispatching; a release, a setting at liberty")

Sample Sentence:

The Euclid mission is expected to bring new knowledge about the history of the universe and dark matter.

Translations:

French: Mission Euclide

German:Euklid-Mission

Polish: Misja Euclid

Swedish: UppdragEuclid

Links to Articles:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/euclid

https://sci.esa.int/web/euclid

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/euclid/main/index.html

Image/Video/Audio Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expansion_of_the_universe#/media/File:CMB_Timeline300_no_WMAP.jpg

Short Definition:

The expansion of the universe is a phenomenon, which describes the inherent property of the universe, where two galaxies that are gravitationally unbound tend to increase the distance to each other and the rate of expansion is even accelerating. Far away parts of the observable universe will not be observable in the near future, because the velocity of expansion is higher than light speed from an outside perspective.

Detailed Definition:

The expansion of the universe is a phenomenon, which explains an inherent property of the universe to expand. The fact that the universe seems to expand, was first doubted because of the gravitational force and the fact that releases of energy like the big bang should normally lose power and should slow over time, but the opposite was observed. The elusive culprit was found quite fast. Dark matter is to be responsible for this phenomenon, but since we know even less about dark matter than about the expansion of the universe, details of how and why it expands are still unknown. 

This expansion occurs at every location of the universe and only gravitationally bound galaxies will be able to observe each other, because unbound galaxies will escape our observable universe at some point. The expansion can in some way be compared to an elastic rubber band, where the distances also increase when you stretch it, but not literally and not on a human scale. It is more that at a scale so far zoomed out, that the universe looks like a cosmic fluid and at this scale it is apparent that the density is decreasing over time. There are three viable methods to measure this expansion. One is based on redshifts, while another on the cosmic distance ladder. Those measurements gave non-matching results, and so 2018 information from gravitational waves made it possible to determine the rate of expansion even more precisely.

Etymology:

Expansion à from Latin expandere à spread out

Sample Sentence(s):

In a thought experiment of an ascending civilization in a faraway galaxy in the far future, they would only be able to observe their neighbouring galaxies and will think  that this is all there is to the universe and all this due to an expansion of the universe.

French:

German:

Ausdehnung des Universums

Polish:

Swedish:

Utvidgning av universum

Links to Videos/Articles:

Expansion of the universe - Wikipedia

Image Source: S, M. (2023, June 01). Illustration of fluid distribution. self. self-made

The fluid shift in the body is an adaption to the reduced gravitation force in space. This results in a shift of the body fluids from the lower body to the upper body.

Detailed Definition:

When a human body is placed on the earth surface, it has a hydrostatic (gravitational) blood pressure gradient and every body region has a different arterial pressure.

In the reduced gravity of space, the hydrostatic pressure in the arteries and veins is altered to a homogeneous arterial pressure in all regions (which is the original arterial pressure of the hearth), which results in the shifted fluid distribution through the body.

The human body reduces the volume of the total fluid and after the space resident, the fluid is shifted because of the returned gravity force.

This phenomenon can cause several issues like cardiac arrhytmia, muscular athropy and visual problems (because the globe is flattened, the blood flow is changed slightly and the diamteter of the optical nerve can increase).

A medical effect of a space flight may be a fluid shift.

Nasa is studying the effect of the fluid shift and how it affects changes in vision.

Translation:

French:

déplacement du fluide

German:

Flüssigkeitsverschiebung 

Polish:

Przemieszczenie płynów w ludzkim organizmie

Swedish:

vätskeförskjutning

https://www.nasa.gov/content/fluid-shifts-study-advances-journey-to-mars

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20150001888