Astrophysics terms starting with I

11 terms

1. Inflation A condition of increasing prices. Inflation is generally measured by the Consumer Price Index.
2. Inhomogeneity Something not evenly distributed in space; a clump or cluster.
3. Initial Being first, before anything else occurs.
4. Initial Conditions The nature of a system's state when time equals zero.
5. Intensity With regards to light, intensity is the energy moving through a region of area per unit of time.
6. Intrinsic Luminosity A measure of the true brightness of an object. It is the amount of energy radiated into space every second by a celestial object, such as a star.
7. Inverse Square 1 divided by a quantity squared. 1/(r^2). The force due to gravity is proportional to 1 over distance squared. F~1/(d2).
8. Ion An atom or molecule that has lost or gained one or more electrons and has become electrically charged as a result.
9. Ionized The state in which an atom is missing on or more of its electrons, and is therefore positively charged.
10. Isotopes atoms that have the same number of protons, but a different number of neutrons are isotopes of each other.
11. Isotropic the property of being independent of direction. Isotropic radiation has the same intensity regardless of the direction of measurement.