astrophysicaladj.
/ˌastrəʊˈfɪzᵻkl/, U.S. /ˌæstroʊˈfɪzək(ə)l/ Of or relating to astrophysics.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > cosmology > astronomy > [adjective] > astrophysics
physico-astronomical1834
astrophysical1872
1872 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 43 493 It [sc. a horizontal pendulum] was transported into a little dome built in the garden of the observatory for astrophysical researches.
1946 Science 1 Nov. 422/2 A chemical understanding of the earth's atomic processes should be based on astrophysical and astrochemical concepts.
1962 W. B. Thompson Introd. Plasma Physics viii. 203 It might be thought that the vast scale of astrophysical phenomena precluded the application of the collisionless theory, but this is by no means clear.
1983 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Dec. 111/1 Because the quantity of radiation emitted by an object depends on its temperature, the Hawking radiation from an astrophysical black hole is utterly negligible.
2007 Astron. & Geophysics Feb. 11/3 Because astrophysical gravitational waves have very long wavelengths in comparison to the dimensions of the instrument, the interferometer acts like a short antenna.
Compounds
astrophysical observatory n.
ΚΠ
1875 Nature 2 Sept. 386/2 The erection of the Astro-physical Observatory near Potsdam is in good progress.
1879 Observatory 3 180 (heading) The Astro-physical observatory at Potsdam... The observatory has been specially designed and fitted up for the study of astronomical physics.
1958 New Scientist 20 Nov. 1299/2 The Soviet Union's most powerful telescope, the 48-inch reflector at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory.
2008 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 27 June a3 Scientists gathered at the university's Rothney Astrophysical Observatory southwest of Calgary, where the country's only telescope to search the night sky for asteroids is based.
Derivatives
ˌastroˈphysically adv. in terms of astrophysics; by means of astrophysics.
ΚΠ
1923 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 9 319 To simplify the problem we shall only deal with an astrophysically homogeneous group of stars, such as the K-giants.__
1968 Jrnl. Math. Physics 9 909 Astrophysically, the situation corresponds to determining the brightness of a spherical planetary nebula.
2007 H. S. Kragh Conceptions of Cosmos 163 The Norwegian professor of mineralogy suggested that the data might be explained astrophysically or cosmophysically.__
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
adj.1872