| / English Dictionary |
NEBULA
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected form: nebulae
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(pathology) a faint cloudy spot on the cornea
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("nebula" is a kind of...):
dapple; fleck; maculation; patch; speckle; spot (a small contrasting part of something)
Domain category:
pathology (the branch of medical science that studies the causes and nature and effects of diseases)
Derivation:
nebular (resembling a cloud)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An immense cloud of gas (mainly hydrogen) and dust in interstellar space
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ("nebula" is a kind of...):
cloud (any collection of particles (e.g., smoke or dust) or gases that is visible)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nebula"):
diffuse nebula; gaseous nebula (a cluster of stars within an intricate cloud of gas and dust)
planetary nebula (a nebula that was once thought to be a star with its planets but is now thought to be a very hot star surrounded by an expanding envelope of ionized gases that emit a fluorescent glow because of intense radiation from the star)
Derivation:
nebular; nebulous (of or relating to or resembling a nebula)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Cloudiness of the urine
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("nebula" is a kind of...):
symptom ((medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease)
Derivation:
nebular (resembling a cloud)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A medicinal liquid preparation intended for use in an atomizer
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("nebula" is a kind of...):
formulation; preparation (a substance prepared according to a formula)
Context examples:
A planetary nebula is an expanding shell of glowing gas expelled by a star late in its life.
(Hubble Detects Giant 'Cannonballs' Shooting from Star, NASA)
Through analysing the characteristics of light, spectrometers can tell us about the processes within galactic nebulae, millions of light years away, down to the characteristics of protein molecules.
(Nanowires replace Newton’s famous glass prism, University of Cambridge)
While stars more massive than eight solar masses end their lives in dramatic supernovae explosions, less massive stars like this one gradually expel their outer layers, resulting in beautiful planetary nebulae.
(Giant Bubbles on Red Giant Star’s Surface, ESO)
The poem swung in majestic rhythm to the cool tumult of interstellar conflict, to the onset of starry hosts, to the impact of cold suns and the flaming up of nebulae in the darkened void; and through it all, unceasing and faint, like a silver shuttle, ran the frail, piping voice of man, a querulous chirp amid the screaming of planets and the crash of systems.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
It contains many astronomical wonders, including the highly active star formation site of NGC 6559, the nebula at the centre of the image.
(Stellar Nursery Blooms into View, ESO)
The planetary nebula in this image is called NGC 2440.
(Hubble Views a Colorful Demise of a Sun-like Star, NASA)
The new image from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, is helping scientists chronicle the history and evolution of this well-studied nebula.
(SOFIA Reveals How the Swan Nebula Hatched, NASA)
As such, planetary nebulas allow us a glimpse into the future of our own solar system.
(Hubble Views Final Stages of a Star’s Life, ESA/NASA)
This star system could be the archetype to explain a dazzling variety of glowing shapes uncovered by Hubble that are seen around dying stars, called planetary nebulae, researchers say.
(Hubble Detects Giant 'Cannonballs' Shooting from Star, NASA)
The average size of the molecules in the nebula’s central cavity, surrounding the illuminating star, is larger than on the surface of the cloud at the outer edge of the cavity.
(“Kitchen Smoke” Molecules in Nebula Offer Clues to the Building Blocks of Life, NASA)
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