gravitational collapse -
1Gravitational collapse — in astronomy is the inward fall of a massive body under the influence of the force of gravity. It occurs when all other forces fail to supply a sufficiently high pressure to counterbalance gravity and keep the massive body in hydrostatic… …
2gravitational collapse — noun the stage in the evolution of a star in which the pressure of the star is insufficient to maintain it at a stable size, and its material falls inward under its own gravitational attraction, eventually forming a black hole or a neutron star,… …
3gravitational collapse — noun the implosion of a star resulting from its own gravity; the result is a smaller and denser celestial object • Hypernyms: ↑implosion * * * noun : the tendency of matter to move toward a common center of gravity (as in the formation of… …
4gravitational collapse — Astron. 1. the final stage of stellar evolution in which a star collapses to a final state, as a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole, when the star s nuclear reactions no longer generate enough pressure to balance the attractive force of… …
5gravitational radius — Astron. See Schwarzschild radius. * * * ▪ astrophysics also called Schwarzschild radius the radius below which the gravitational attraction between the particles of a body must cause it to undergo irreversible gravitational collapse. This …
6gravitational wave — noun : a hypothetical wave held to travel at the speed of light and to propagate the gravitational field * * * Astron., Physics. (in general relativity) a propagating wave of gravitational energy produced by accelerating masses, esp. during… …
7Gravitational singularity — General relativity Introduction Mathematical formulation Resources Fundamental concepts …
8gravitational wave — Astron., Physics. (in general relativity) a propagating wave of gravitational energy produced by accelerating masses, esp. during catastrophic events, as the gravitational collapse of massive stars. Also called gravity wave. [1895 1900] * * * …
9Gravitational wave astronomy — is an emerging branch of observational astronomy which aims to use gravitational waves (minute distortions of spacetime predicted by Einstein s theory of general relativity) to collect observational data about objects such as neutron stars and… …
10Gravitational wave background — A possible target of gravitational wave detection experiments is a stochastic background of gravitational waves. The detection of such a background would have a profound impact on early universe cosmology and on high energy physics, opening up a… …
