radiant

radiant

1. emitted or propagated by or as radiation; radiated

2. Physics (of a physical quantity in photometry) evaluated by absolute energy measurements

3. a point or object that emits radiation, esp the part of a heater that gives out heat

4. Astronomy the point in space from which a meteor shower appears to emanate

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

radiant

(ray -dee-ănt) The point on the celestial sphere, usually given in the coordinates right ascension and declination, from which a meteor appears to originate. Shower meteors all seem to radiate from this point and the trains of a series of shower meteors, extrapolated backwards, intercept at the radiant. Its position is found by calculating the intercept with the celestial sphere of the vector sum of the meteor's velocity vector and the Earth's velocity vector on collision. The radiant position changes slightly with time as the Earth moves through the meteoroid stream. Meteor showers are usually named after the constellation that contains the radiant.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

radiant

[′rād·ē·ənt]

(astronomy)

A point on the celestial sphere through which pass the backward extensions of the trail of a meteor as observed at various locations, or the backward extensions of trails of a number of meteors traveling parallel to each other.

A point on the celestial sphere toward which the stars in a moving cluster appear to travel.

(physics)

Pertaining to motion of particles or radiation along radii from a common point or a small region.

A point, region, substance, or entity from which particles or radiations are emitted.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Radiant

 

the point on the celestial sphere that appears to be the source of the meteors observed when the earth encounters a swarm of meteoroids moving around the sun in a common orbit. Meteoroids belonging to the same swarm have almost exactly parallel trajectories in space. Consequently, if the paths of the meteors in the corresponding meteor shower are extended backward to the celestial sphere, they intersect in a small area of the sky because of the effects of perspective. The center of this area is the radiant.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.