Observational Astronomy

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5 domain-specific abstractions whose origin domain is Observational Astronomy.

• Astronomical optical interferometry — An observing method coherently combining optical or infrared light from separated apertures to measure spatial Fourier information at very high angular resolution.
• Astronomical transit — The apparent passage of a nearer, smaller celestial body across the visible disk of a more distant, larger body from a particular observer's line of sight.
• First-magnitude star — A traditional brightness class for stars with apparent magnitude conventionally below about +1.5, inherited from the brightest rank of the ancient naked-eye scale.
• Grazing lunar occultation — A lunar occultation in which a star repeatedly disappears and reappears behind the Moon’s irregular limb near the shadow-path boundary.
• Markarian galaxies — A catalog class of galaxies selected for nuclei or compact regions with unusually strong ultraviolet excess in objective-prism survey observations.