circumstellar

adjective

cir·​cum·​stel·​lar ˌsər-kəm-ˈste-lər How to pronounce circumstellar (audio)
: surrounding or occurring in the vicinity of a star
circumstellar dust

Examples of circumstellar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Other red supergiants in binary or multiple star systems display equatorial rings in their circumstellar material driven by the orbital interactions of a companion star. Keith Cooper, Space.com, 13 Aug. 2025 Some of the stars display the telltale shadow of a circumstellar disk, the makings of future planetary systems. Alan Taylor, The Atlantic, 12 July 2023 At the top left, on the bubble's exterior, orange and red curtains from warm dust emissions are indicative of where ejected material from the exploded star is colliding with surrounding circumstellar gas and dust. Julia Musto, Fox News, 8 Apr. 2023 This rotation of the cloud material leads to the formation of a circumstellar disk of matter surrounding the nascent star, which then becomes a crucible for planet formation. Katelyn Allers, Scientific American, 1 Aug. 2021 One possibility is that a passing star may have knocked Sedna out of the Oort Cloud — a circumstellar cloud of icy space rocks orbiting far from the sun — and onto its current orbit. Eric Betz, Discover Magazine, 2 Feb. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1951, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of circumstellar was in 1951

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Cite this Entry

“Circumstellar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/circumstellar. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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