Astronomy & Space vocabulary · Stars & Stellar Evolution
Nebula
Meaning in astronomy & space, with examples
/ˈnebjələ/nounCommon term
In astronomy & space, nebula means: A huge cloud of gas and dust in space. Some nebulae are places where new stars are born; others are material thrown off by dying stars.
In Turkish: bulutsu, nebula
How it is used
Popular targets for telescopes and astrophotography. Types include emission nebulae, dark nebulae, planetary nebulae and supernova remnants. The Orion Nebula can be seen with the naked eye as a fuzzy patch.
Example sentences
The Orion Nebula is a stellar nursery where thousands of young stars are forming.
With a narrowband filter, the nebula shows much more detail in photographs.
Common collocations
planetary nebula
emission nebula
the Orion Nebula
dark nebula
star-forming nebula
Related terms
starA huge ball of hot gas, mainly hydrogen and helium, that produces light and heat through nuclear reactions in its core. The Sun is the nearest star to Earth.
supernovaA huge stellar explosion that can briefly shine as brightly as a whole galaxy. It happens when a massive star collapses or when a white dwarf gains too much mass.
white dwarfThe small, very dense and hot core left behind when a Sun-like star dies. It is about the size of Earth but has a mass comparable to the Sun's.
star clusterA group of stars born from the same cloud and held together by gravity. Open clusters are loose and young; globular clusters are dense balls of very old stars.
galaxyAn enormous system of stars, gas, dust and dark matter held together by gravity. A large galaxy can contain hundreds of billions of stars.
