English > cosmology: 2 senses > noun 2, cognition| Meaning | The branch of astrophysics that studies the origin and evolution and structure of the universe. |
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| Synonyms | cosmogony, cosmogeny |
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| Category of | Hubble's constant, Hubble constant, Hubble's parameter, Hubble parameter | (cosmology) the ratio of the speed of recession of a galaxy (due to the expansion of the universe) to its distance from the observer |
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| big-bang theory, big bang theory | (cosmology) the theory that the universe originated sometime between 10 billion and 20 billion years ago from the cataclysmic explosion of a small volume of matter at extremely high density and temperature |
| big bang | (cosmology) the cosmic explosion that is hypothesized to have marked the origin of the universe |
| closed universe | (cosmology) a universe that is spatially closed and in which there is sufficient matter to halt the expansion that began with the big bang |
| cosmic background radiation, CBR, cosmic microwave background radiation, CMBR, cosmic microwave background, CMB | (cosmology) the cooled remnant of the hot big bang that fills the entire universe and can be observed today with an average temperature of about 2.725 kelvin |
| dark matter | (cosmology) a hypothetical form of matter that is believed to make up 90 percent of the universe |
| inflation | (cosmology) a brief exponential expansion of the universe (faster than the speed of light) postulated to have occurred shortly after the big bang |
| nebular hypothesis | (cosmology) the theory that the solar system evolved from a hot gaseous nebula |
| planetesimal hypothesis | (cosmology) the theory that the solar system was formed by the gravitational accumulation of planetesimals |
| steady state theory, continuous creation theory | (cosmology) the theory that the universe maintains a constant average density with matter created to fill the void left by galaxies that are receding from each other |
| string, cosmic string | (cosmology) a hypothetical one-dimensional subatomic particle having a concentration of energy and the dynamic properties of a flexible loop |
| ylem | (cosmology) the original matter that (according to the big bang theory) existed before the formation of the chemical elements |
| Broader | astrophysics | The branch of astronomy concerned with the physical and chemical properties of celestial bodies |
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| Spanish | cosmogonía, cosmología |
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| Catalan | cosmogonia, cosmologia |
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| Adjectives | cosmologic, cosmological | pertaining to the branch of astronomy dealing with the origin and history and structure and dynamics of the universe |
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| Nouns | cosmologist | an astronomer who studies the evolution and space-time relations of the universe |
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