heavenly body
noun
plural heavenly bodies
: an aggregation of matter in the universe (such as a planet, star, or nebula) that can be considered as a single unit (as for astronomical study) : celestial body
The discovery of the heavenly body, which formed about 13.6 billion years ago, has allowed astronomers for the first time to study the chemistry of the first stars.—
Rita Mu
Rita MuCooper's … account of the collection and interpretation of information about this heavenly body presents us with vivid images of the Venusian landscape as well as insights into the frustrations and rewards of space science.—Donna Seaman
Donna SeamanThis harvest was the first solid sample of a heavenly body collected in more than 30 years and the first ever from a comet.—Jeffrey Winters
Jeffrey WintersExamples of heavenly body in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The stars and other heavenly bodies are all stationary, while the Earth rotates about its axis, with a rotational period of 360° every 24 hours.
—Big Think, 30 Oct. 2025
There are a variety of signs on the ocean to know the right direction, such as visible land masses, heavenly bodies, swells, and winds.
—ArsTechnica, 26 June 2025
There are a variety of signs on the ocean to know the right direction, such as visible land masses, heavenly bodies, swells and winds.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 25 June 2025
But the heavenly body – possibly a dwarf planet à la Pluto – isn't a frequent visitor.
—Mike Snider, USA Today, 25 May 2025
But the gravitational, magnetic and tidal effects of such a clustering of heavenly bodies are, at most, minuscule.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 27 Mar. 2025
This celestial phenomenon is called a conjunction, which means two or more heavenly bodies appear very close to each other.
—John Meyer, The Denver Post, 29 Jan. 2025
When our earthly body dies, our new heavenly body is waiting for anyone who claims God’s grace.
—Rev. Randy Koppen, Twin Cities, 10 Mar. 2024
In a mere 10 hours of engineering data, its detection software identified 2,104 brand-new asteroids — including seven near-Earth objects, heavenly bodies whose orbit will bring them near-ish our planet.
—Bryan Walsh, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
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Big Think, 30 Oct. 2025
There are a variety of signs on the ocean to know the right direction, such as visible land masses, heavenly bodies, swells, and winds.
—ArsTechnica, 26 June 2025
There are a variety of signs on the ocean to know the right direction, such as visible land masses, heavenly bodies, swells and winds.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 25 June 2025
But the heavenly body – possibly a dwarf planet à la Pluto – isn't a frequent visitor.
—Mike Snider, USA Today, 25 May 2025
But the gravitational, magnetic and tidal effects of such a clustering of heavenly bodies are, at most, minuscule.
—Joe Rao, Space.com, 27 Mar. 2025
This celestial phenomenon is called a conjunction, which means two or more heavenly bodies appear very close to each other.
—John Meyer, The Denver Post, 29 Jan. 2025
When our earthly body dies, our new heavenly body is waiting for anyone who claims God’s grace.
—Rev. Randy Koppen, Twin Cities, 10 Mar. 2024
In a mere 10 hours of engineering data, its detection software identified 2,104 brand-new asteroids — including seven near-Earth objects, heavenly bodies whose orbit will bring them near-ish our planet.
—Bryan Walsh, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Heavenly body.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heavenly%20body. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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