nebula Definition
nebu·la (neb′yə lə)
noun pl. -·lae′-lē′ or -·las
- a cloud of interstellar gas or dust: formerly, applied to any hazy, distant celestial object, as a star cluster or an external galaxy
- Med.
- a small, cloudy opacity on the cornea
- a liquid preparation used as a spray
Etymology: ModL < L, vapor, fog, mist < IE base *nebh-, moist, vapor, cloud > Gr nephos, nephelē, cloud, OE nifol, mist, darkness
nebula Related Forms
neb′u·lar adjective
nebula Synonyms
nebula
n.
Kinds of nebulae include: spiral, planetary, diffuse, galactic, gaseous, whirlpool, ring; Crab nebula, nebula of Lyra, nebula of Orion, dark;
nebula Usage Examples
Converse of object
- discover: He described it as a " nebula discovered by M. Mechain.
- call: The expended gas frequently forms an impressive display called a planetary nebula that fades gradually over thousand of years.
- form: He will often stare at the cream dissolving in his coffee, forming specific nebulae, sometimes planets.
- see: Description: Here we see the nebula also in the infra-red.
- ionize: These are assumed to be responsible for the variety of shapes of the nebulae ionized by hot evolved stars.
- observe: The 150mm aperture enables you to observe bright nebulas in the depth of space.
Adjective modifier
- planetary: Our own Sun may eject a similar planetary nebula some 6 billion years from now.
- trifid: Polychrome The Trifid Nebula from CFHT -- very pretty.
- gaseous: I looked at Hubble's greatest hits: nebulae, spiral galaxies, planets, star clusters, gaseous nebulae.
- solar: Is a solar nebula the reason or is gravity the reason?
- faint: Narrow bandpass filters also take out sky glow emission lines which also helps to improve the visual contrast of very faint nebulae.
- bright: The 150mm aperture enables you to observe bright nebulas in the depth of space.
Modifies a noun
- theory: We get some evidence to support the nebula theories from looking a to support the nebula theories from looking at other star systems.
- filter: The standard nebula filter takes out a larger chunk of emission from orange out to the start of the nebula emission lines.
Noun used with modifier
- planetary: Features of Aquarius: Aquarius contains the famous planetary nebula Saturn Nebula.
- spiral: Historical No-one before Hubble imagined that the spiral nebulae might be other galaxies.
- reflection: NGC 1999 is an example of a reflection nebula.
- emission: The dark clouds block the light from the emission nebula behind.
- gas: The solar system formed from a large gas nebula that had some dust grains in it.
- crab: The crab nebula is the brightest supernova remnant in the sky.
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