Term Index (K)
- K:
- K band: atmospheric window centered around 2.2 microns, or 136 THz
- infrared (IR): electromagnetic radiation, wavelength 0.74-300 micrometers
- K Belt:
- Kuiper Belt (K Belt,KB): further part of solar system beyond Neptune
- K Belt object:
- Kuiper Belt (K Belt,KB): further part of solar system beyond Neptune
- K correction: correction to magnitude for redshift
- K dwarf:
- K-type star (K): spectral class of star a bit cooler than the Sun
- M dwarf: small, cool main-sequence star in stellar class M
- red dwarf: small, cool main-sequence star
- K line:
- calcium (Ca): element, Ca, atomic number 20
- K-band Multi-object Spectrograph:
- KMOS: 2-micron spectrograph on ESO VLT
- K-capture:
- K-class:
- K-type star (K): spectral class of star a bit cooler than the Sun
- K-class star:
- K-type star (K): spectral class of star a bit cooler than the Sun
- K-Cor:
- K-line: iron X-ray line
- K-type star (K): spectral class of star a bit cooler than the Sun
- K/Th ratio:
- K2: second Kepler mission that worked around failed equipment
- kB:
- kDM:
- KAGRA: gravitational wave detector in Japan preparing for operation
- Kaguya:
- SELENE: 2007-2008 Japanese lunar probe
- Kaiser distortion:
- redshift space: concept of space using redshift as the radial dimension
- KAIT:
- Kaj Strand Telescope:
- USNO: observatory obtaining astronomical data for Naval use
- Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector:
- KAGRA: gravitational wave detector in Japan preparing for operation
- Kamioka Observatory: Japanese underground particle detector
- Kamiokande-II:
- KamiokeNDE:
- KAO:
- kappa mechanism (κ-mechanism): stellar instability caused by opacity increasing with temperature
- Kapteyn universe: early 20th century model of the universe centered on the Milky Way
- Kapteyn's Star: nearby M dwarf
- Karhula:
- Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array:
- Karoo Array Telescope:
- MeerKAT: new radio telescope in South Africa
- Kast Spectrograph:
- KAT:
- MeerKAT: new radio telescope in South Africa
- KAT-7:
- MeerKAT: new radio telescope in South Africa
- Katalog von 1053 staerker bewegten Fixsternen:
- KATE:
- SMART-1: Swedish lunary orbiter operational 2004-2008
- Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope:
- Kavli Foundation:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- Kavli Institute for Cosmology:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- Kavli IPMU:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- Kazochok:
- ExoMars: program to search for signs of life on Mars
- KB:
- Kuiper Belt (K Belt,KB): further part of solar system beyond Neptune
- KB object:
- Kuiper Belt (K Belt,KB): further part of solar system beyond Neptune
- KBO:
- Haumea: dwarf planet discovered in 2004
- Kuiper Belt (K Belt,KB): further part of solar system beyond Neptune
- Pluto: dwarf planet formerly listed as one of the nine planets
- plutoid: Pluto-like dwarf planet
- Sedna: distant solar system planetoid discovered in 2003
- KDG:
- KE:
- Keck:
- Keck 1:
- Keck Array:
- BICEP2: survey to measure the polarization of the CMB
- Keck Interferometer:
- Keck Observatory: observatory in Hawaii with two 10-meter reflectors
- Keck Planet Finder (KPF): spectrograph in development for Keck
- Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC): extreme AO upgrade under development for Keck
- KELT: pair of telescopes searching for transients
- KELT-North:
- KELT: pair of telescopes searching for transients
- KELT-South:
- KELT: pair of telescopes searching for transients
- Kelu:
- kelvin (K): temperature scale starting at absolute zero
- Kelvin scale:
- Boltzmann constant (k,kB): relates particle energy and temperature
- kelvin (K): temperature scale starting at absolute zero
- Kelvin time:
- timescale (t,τ): general length of time something takes
- Kelvin waves: pressure and gravity waves formed by Coriolis force and a barrier
- Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI): waves forming from velocity shear
- Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism: release of energy from gravitational collapse
- Kelvin-Helmholtz time:
- Kelvin-Helmholtz timescale (KH timescale,KH time,τKH): time that would radiate away a body's heat energy given its luminosity
- timescale (t,τ): general length of time something takes
- Kennicutt-Schmidt law: relation between gas density and star formation rate
- Kennicutt-Schmidt relation:
- Kepler:
- Kepler dichotomy:
- Kepler Input Catalog:
- Kepler object of interest:
- Kepler orbit:
- Kepler Orrery I:
- orrery: mechanical device to simulate the solar system
- Kepler radius: radius at which a particular velocity would orbit
- Kepler radius distribution:
- Kepler Telescope: space telescope that watched stars for exoplanets
- Kepler's laws: laws of the kinematics of orbits
- Kepler's laws of planetary motion:
- Kepler's supernova:
- Kepler-16:
- Kepler-1625:
- Kepler-1625b: giant exoplanet in a star's habitable zone
- Kepler-16b: exoplanet orbiting a binary star
- Kepler-186:
- Kepler-186f: Earth-like exoplanet in a star's habitable zone
- Kepler-186f: Earth-like exoplanet in a star's habitable zone
- Kepler-452:
- Kepler-452b: Earth-like exoplanet discovered in 2015
- Keplerian disk: disk whose motion follows Kepler's laws
- Keplerian orbit: orbit following a perfect ellipse or other conic section
- Keplerian radius:
- Keplerian speed:
- Kerberos:
- Haumea: dwarf planet discovered in 2004
- Pluto: dwarf planet formerly listed as one of the nine planets
- Kerr BH:
- Kerr black hole: spinning black hole with no charge
- Kerr metric:
- Kerr object:
- Kerr spacetime:
- Kerr-Newman black hole:
- Kerr-Newman metric:
- metric: mathematical generalization of the concept of distance
- Kerr-Newman object:
- Kerr-NUT spacetime: Kerr spacetime defined in terms of Taub-NUT spacetime
- Kerr-Taub-NUT spacetime:
- Kesteven:
- KFL:
- KFPA:
- KH:
- KH instability:
- KH mechanism:
- KH time:
- KH timescale:
- Kelvin-Helmholtz timescale (KH timescale,KH time,τKH): time that would radiate away a body's heat energy given its luminosity
- timescale (t,τ): general length of time something takes
- Kharchenko:
- KHI:
- KI:
- KIAA:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- Kibel number:
- KIC:
- KIC 8462852: star with unusual variations
- KICC:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- kick:
- kicked out:
- KID: type of sensitive electronic device to detect light
- KID Interferometer Spectrometer Surveyor:
- CONCERTO: spectrometer aimed at mapping the [CII] line
- KiDS:
- Kilo-degree Survey:
- Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope:
- KELT: pair of telescopes searching for transients
- kilometer size barrier: a barrier to accretion on the order of a kilometer diameter
- barrier: challenging issue regarding planet formation
- kilonova (KN): explosive event larger than a nova and smaller than a supernova
- standard siren: transient whose gravitational waves indicate a specific distance
- kilonova light curve:
- kinematic distance: distance to objects within Milky Way based on radial velocity
- kinematic distance ambiguity:
- kinematic group:
- kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect:
- kinematics:
- kinetic energy (KE): an object's energy due to its motion
- kinetic equilibrium:
- kinetic inductance detector:
- KID: type of sensitive electronic device to detect light
- kinetic Reynolds number:
- Reynolds number (Re): measure reflecting a fluid system's propensity to turbulence
- kinetic temperature:
- kinetic theory of gases:
- cross section: "area" representation of probability of an interaction of particles
- heating: increasing the velocity of particles
- kinetic-limited weathering:
- weathering: changes in surface due to contact with atmosphere
- kinetics:
- normal mode: sinusoidal oscillation, such as in seismology
- King:
- King Catalog: list of 21 open clusters
- KIPAC:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- KIPC:
- Kavli Institute: any of a number of science institutes supported by Kavli Foundation
- Kirchhoff diffraction formula:
- Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation: for an object in thermodynamic equilibrium, emissivity equals absorptance
- gray body: ideal object that reflects the same fraction of light at any wavelength
- Kirchhoff's Laws:
- Kirchhoff's three laws of spectroscopy:
- Kirkwood gap: gaps in asteroid orbital radii corresponding to Jupiter resonances
- Kiso Observatory:
- Kiso Survey of Ultraviolet Excess Galaxies (KUG): 1980 Japanese survey
- KISS:
- CONCERTO: spectrometer aimed at mapping the [CII] line
- Kitt Peak 4m:
- Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO): NRAO observatory in Arizona with Mayall telescope
- KjPn:
- KKH:
- KKR:
- Klein-Nishina formula: formula for the effects of electrons scattering photons
- Klemola:
- kly:
- light-year (ly): distance that light travels in a year
- KMOS: 2-micron spectrograph on ESO VLT
- KMOS3D: survey of galaxies before to after peak star formation
- KN:
- kilonova (KN): explosive event larger than a nova and smaller than a supernova
- KNT:
- KOALA:
- KOI:
- ExoFOP: site to facilitate exoplanet follow-up observation
- Kepler Telescope: space telescope that watched stars for exoplanets
- KOI-571.05:
- Kepler-186f: Earth-like exoplanet in a star's habitable zone
- Kolmogorov energy spectrum:
- Kolmogorov spectrum: energy spectrum of the eddies of different sizes in a turbulent fluid
- Konkoly Observatory:
- HATNet: distributed array of telescopes to search for transients
- KONUS-B:
- GRANAT: observatory-satellite for detecting gamma rays and X-rays
- Koposov:
- Korean Solar Radio Burst Locator:
- Kormendy Relation: relation between elliptical galaxy luminosity surface brightness
- Koronis:
- Korsch telescope: type of reflector telescope
- Kowal's Object:
- Kozai cycle:
- Kozai mechanism: an effect on an orbit by another, more distant orbiting body
- Kozai mechanism: an effect on an orbit by another, more distant orbiting body
- Kozai oscillation:
- Kozai mechanism: an effect on an orbit by another, more distant orbiting body
- Kozai-Lidov oscillation:
- Kozai mechanism: an effect on an orbit by another, more distant orbiting body
- kpc:
- parsec (pc): about 3.26 light-years
- KPD:
- KPF:
- KPIC:
- KPNO:
- KPNO 2.1 m Telescope.:
- KPNO 4m:
- KR:
- Kramers opacity law: opacity's relation to density and temperature
- Kramers' law:
- Kron:
- Kronberger:
- Kruger:
- Krylov subspace:
- Krylov subspace method: efficient method of numerically solving sets of linear equations
- KSRBL:
- kSZ:
- kSZE:
- KU:
- KU-BAND:
- Kueyen Telescope:
- KUG:
- KUI:
- Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO): infrared observatory-plane in the 1980s
- Kuiper Belt (K Belt,KB): further part of solar system beyond Neptune
- Kuiper Belt object:
- Kuiper Belt (K Belt,KB): further part of solar system beyond Neptune
- plutoid: Pluto-like dwarf planet
- kurtosis: measure of the probability of a distribution's tails
- KUV:
- KWCI:
Index