perihelion
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
Etymology: PIE word
 *sóh₂wl̥
From perihelium (“perihelion”) (obsolete) + -ion (suffix used for other names of apsides). Perihelium is borrowed from Late Latin perihelium, from Ancient Greek περι- (peri-, “around; surrounding”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + ἥλιος (hḗlios, “sun”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”)), which was modelled after perigeum (“point in an orbit about the Earth that is closest to the Earth, perigee”).
Base: perihelium
Affixes: -ion
Inflected forms:
form: perihelia
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: perihelions
pos: noun
tags: plural
proscribed
Senses:
gloss: The point in the elliptical orbit of a comet, planet, etc., where it is nearest to the Sun.
pos: noun
examples: The æquation of the Earth encreaſeth from her Aphelion, until ſhe come to the point where it's greateſt, and from thence it again decreaſeth till ſhe come to her Perihelion, or oppoſite Auge: in like manner it increaſeth from her Perihelion to the point where it's greateſt, and afterwards decreaſeth till ſhe come againe to the Auge or Aphelion, [...]
They [the best astronomers of this age] all agree that the Planets turn in ſo many Ellipſes, of which the Sun is the focus; the reaſon of it is, that they are obſerved to be in ſome points called Perihelia, nearer to the Sun, and, in the oppoſite points call'd Aphelia, farther from it; which could not be, if they mov'd in a perfect circle.
[I]f Comets were obſerv'd to have to Atmoſphere after their return from the Regions beyond Saturn, before they arrived at their Perihelia again, then indeed this reaſoning were unavoidable; but ſeeing the contrary is evident from Aſtronomical Obſervations, it cannot affect his [William Whiston's] Hypotheſis.
The base of the system is that all planets, comets and satellites go through a reversed change of motion, volume, distance and density at their perihelions and aphelions, each orbital revolution: this being effected through reciprocating electric currents or lines that exist and undulate between the planetary bodies, with which currents are used to carry on these planetary changes. These changes continue from perihelion to aphelion, and from aphelion to perihelion again, and are in proportion to the amount of ellipticity in their orbits—the greater the ellipticity the greater the changes.
This rotational motion could have the axis of minimum moments of inertia nearly aligned with the Sun–Mercury radius vector at every perihelion passage.
In this case, the rate of advance of the perihelia of their elliptical orbits provides important information about the masses of the neutron stars as well as providing very sensitive tests of general relativity itself.
The longitude of the comet is not usually specified at a particular epoch. Rather, the epoch is given when the comet is at perihelion, the point of its closest approach to the Sun. [...] Note that, as in the case of the planetary elements, we have specified ϖ, the longitude of the perihelion.
gloss: The highest point or state; the peak, zenith.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
examples: [T]he magnificence of his compliment had quite shaken the general's [Ulysses S. Grant's] modesty, and that he could only say that France must come to the perihelion of her glory under such rulers as Grevy [i.e., Jules Grévy].
This brilliant trick was the invention of the late Dr. Hofzinzer, of Vienna, who, at the perihelion of his fame, was regarded as the greatest card conjurer in the world.
At that concert, undergoing a state of rapture that easily rekindles in memory, the boy turned to his best friend Joel and gave the simplest and most unguarded expression possible to a feeling nearly anyone has had at least once (I hope), perhaps most often at the perihelion of some sexual experience, or drug experience. I don't remember the exact words the boy used, but the gist was, "We must never, ever, miss a chance to do this again."
Derived words: perihelial
perihelian
perihelic
Translations: