transit

transit

transit in astronomy, passage of a body across a meridian or passage of a small body across the visible disk of a larger one. (The passage of a large body across a smaller one is called an eclipse or occultation .) All of the fixed stars transit the celestial meridian once daily; an observer can determine either his longitude or the sidereal time by noting the time at which a given star transits his meridian and by referring to tables. Transits of small bodies across larger ones can be observed only within the bounds of the solar system. The innermost moons of Jupiter are so close to the planet that they transit it at every orbit. Of the planets, only Mercury and Venus, whose orbits lie inside the earth's orbit, can transit the sun. When such a transit occurs, the planet appears in a special solar telescope as a small black dot on the sun's disk. A solar transit can occur only when one of the two planets is in inferior conjunction and at one of its nodes on the plane of the ecliptic. For Mercury, solar transit can occur only in May or November. The interval between November transits is 7, 13, or 46 years; May transits occur at intervals of 13 or 46 years. Exact timing of Mercury's transits have offered experimental confirmation of the theory of relativity . For Venus, solar transit occurs in June or December. Currently, two transits take place within about 8 years of each other, with an interval of 52 1/2 or 60 1/2 years between pairs of transits. The next two solar transits of Venus will occur in June, 2004, and June, 2012. Venus's solar transits have been used in determining the astronomical unit .

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"transit." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"transit." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-transit.html

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transit

tran·sit / ˈtranzit/ • n. 1. the carrying of people, goods, or materials from one place to another: a painting was damaged in transit. ∎  an act of passing through or across a place: the first west-to-east transit of the Northwest Passage | [as adj.] a transit airline passenger. ∎  the conveyance of passengers on public transportation. ∎  Astron. the passage of an inferior planet across the face of the sun, or of a moon or its shadow across the face of a planet. ∎  Astron. the apparent passage of a celestial body across the meridian of a place. ∎  Astrol. the passage of a celestial body through a specified sign, house, or area of a chart. 2. inf. (in full transit theodolite) a tool used by surveyors to measure horizontal angles. • v. (-sit·ed , -sit·ing ) [tr.] pass across or through (an area): the new large ships will be too big to transit the Panama Canal. ∎  Astron. (of a planet or other celestial body) pass across (a meridian or the face of another body). ∎  Astrol. (of a celestial body) pass across (a specified sign, house, or area of a chart).

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"transit." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"transit." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-transit.html

"transit." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-transit.html

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Transition

Transition (1927–38), monthly little magazine founded in Paris as “an international magazine for creative experiment.” Its editors, Eugene Jolas and Elliot Paul, believed that the literary imagination of the time was too photographic and that the study of the irrational was an a priori condition for giving the imagination a new dimension. They therefore explored “a nightworld hitherto neglected” and tried to liberate conventional language, using new words and new grammar to evoke such states of mind as dream, hallucination, and half‐sleep. Joyce's Work in Progress (Finnegans Wake), which attempted, according to the editor, “to give a time‐and‐space‐less panorama of the nocturnal world,” was one of their leading documents. Other contributors included Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, Hart Crane, and W.C. Williams, and the magazine published translations of foreign authors. In the summer of 1928 it became a quarterly, and it was temporarily discontinued (1930–32) when “it threatened to become a mercantile success.”

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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Transition." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Transition." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-Transition.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Transition." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-Transition.html

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transition

tran·si·tion / tranˈzishən; -ˈsishən/ • n. the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another: students in transition from one program to another| a transition to multiparty democracy. ∎  a passage in a piece of writing that smoothly connects two topics or sections to each other. ∎  Mus. a momentary modulation from one key to another. ∎  Physics a change of an atom, nucleus, electron, etc., from one quantum state to another, with emission or absorption of radiation. • v. undergo or cause to undergo a process or period of transition: [tr.] the network ought to be built by the federal government and then transitioned into private industry [intr.] we have transitioned from a high-intensity combat operation to a support role in the community. DERIVATIVES: tran·si·tion·al / -shənl/ adj. tran·si·tion·a·ry / -ˌnerē/ adj.

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"transition." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"transition." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-transition.html

"transition." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-transition.html

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transition

transition In genetics, a type of mutation (a nucleotide-pair substitution) that involves the replacement in DNA or RNA of one purine with another, or of one pyrimidine with another. An example is the change of GC (guanine–cytosine) to AT (adenine–thymine).

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MICHAEL ALLABY. "transition." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL ALLABY. "transition." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-transition.html

MICHAEL ALLABY. "transition." A Dictionary of Zoology. 1999. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O8-transition.html

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transition

transition In genetics, a type of mutation (a nucleotide-pair substitution) that involves the replacement in DNA or RNA of one purine with another, or of one pyrimidine with another. An example is the change of GC (guanine-cytosine) to AT (adenine-thymine).

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MICHAEL ALLABY. "transition." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL ALLABY. "transition." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-transition.html

MICHAEL ALLABY. "transition." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-transition.html

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transition

transition The substitution of a purine base containing nucleotide for another with a purine base, or a pyrimidine base containing nucleotide for another with a pyrimidine base. Transitions generally occur more frequently in evolution than transversions.

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MICHAEL ALLABY. "transition." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL ALLABY. "transition." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-transition.html

MICHAEL ALLABY. "transition." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O14-transition.html

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transition

transition.
1. Modulation from one key to another, particularly of a sudden and abrupt nature.

2. Transition passage is one which acts as link between 2 more substantial passages (in sym., conc., etc.).

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MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "transition." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "transition." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-transition.html

MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "transition." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-transition.html

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Transition

Transition

Spiritualist term for death, used to emphasize survival of personality after death. Another term sometimes used is "pro-motion."

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"Transition." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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transition

transition (in genetics) See substitution.

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"transition." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"transition." A Dictionary of Biology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O6-transition.html

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transit

transit •caret • Sanskrit • Prakrit •ferret, inherit, merit •egret • secret •dispirit, skirret, spirit •floret • pomfret • bowsprit •barbiturate •turret, worrit •culprit • floweret • Margaret •cellaret (US cellarette) •banneret, lanneret •hypocrite • preterite (US preterit) •Everett, leveret •favourite (US favorite) •interpret, misinterpret •basset, facet, tacet, tacit •Narragansett, transit •lancet •cresset, Knesset •exit • resit •complicit, elicit, explicit, illicit, implicit, licit, solicit •Tilsit • plebiscite • babysit • deficit •cosset, posset •Quonset • whatsit •corset, Dorset, faucet •gusset, russet •dulcet •tercet, verset •ashet • planchet • bullshit • Bastet •tomtit • bluetit

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"transit." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"transit." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-transit.html

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