User guide | 37
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Newtonian telescope : Optical device with 2 mirrors with a "refl ective" lens (refl ects light).
Occultations : Phenomenon by which a star (planet, moon, star, asteroid) is totally or
partially masked by another star which passes between it and the observer.
Solar-system : The planetary system to which the Earth belongs. It is made up of stars,
the Sun, and celestial objects orbiting around it: 8 planets and their 205 known natural
satellites, the fi ve dwarf planets we know and their natural satellites, and billions of small
bodies (such as asteroids, comets, interplanetary dust, etc.).
Star : Celestial body which radiates its own light by nuclear fusion reactions or bodies
which have been in this state at some stage in their life cycle.
Supernova : Cataclysmic event signing the end of a star. A supernova can result from
two very diff erent types of events: the thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf fol-
lowing accretion of material from a neighboring star or the gravitational collapse of a
massive star (a so-called core-collapse supernova).
Thermal balance : A system is said to be in thermal equilibrium with itself if the tempe-
rature inside the system is spatially uniform and temporally constant. In our case, that
means the telescope has to be at the same temperature as the environment.
Transient astronomical events : Phenomenon involving a celestial object whose dura-
tion can range from a few seconds to a few days, weeks or even years.
Trojans : On Jupiter's orbits, between 160,000–240,000 asteroids called Trojans are dis-
tributed in two elongated, curved regions at the stable point named Lagrangian points.
Zenith : The zenith is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the
imaginary celestial sphere.
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