ASTR 103 - Astronomy

Glossary - Q

quadrature

Configuration of the Moon or a planet corresponding to its position when it is 90^o from the Earth-Sun line.

quantum

Finite or discrete amount of a quantity. The term is frequently applied to the discrete bundle of energy possessed by the photon.

quantum mechanics

 

quark

 

quasar

Popular designation for a quasi-stellar object.

quasistellar objects (QSOs)

General class of stellar-appearing objects believed by most astronomers to be very distant, because of their large red shifts, and also highly luminous. One group, quasi-stellar sources, emits strong radio energy; the other group, which is often called blue stellar objects, emits no detectable radio energy.