globular cluster

Definition of globular cluster

: any of various approximately spherical clusters of gravitationally associated stars that typically populate galactic halos

— called also globular

Examples of globular cluster in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But recent research by Gerosa and one of his colleagues found that the recoil from such collisions would likely eject most pairs from the globular cluster, preventing them from finding future companions to merge with. — Charlie Wood, Scientific American, "Black Hole Factories May Hide at Cores of Giant Galaxies," 4 Dec. 2019 Thinking global The new work focuses on what are called globular clusters, which are large groups of stars held together by gravity. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Building Andromeda: Galaxy ended up with stars orbiting at right angles," 6 Oct. 2019 But spring and fall are prime times for globular clusters (dense collections of ancient stars), especially on nights when bright moonlight might drown out the planets. — Erin E. Williams, Twin Cities, "A window to the universe is open in Oregon," 24 Sep. 2019 Inside a globular cluster, a 50-solar-mass black hole could merge with a 30-solar-mass one, for instance, and then the resulting giant could merge again. — Quanta Magazine, "Possible Detection of a Black Hole So Big It ‘Should Not Exist’," 28 Aug. 2019 Researchers literally followed the crumb trail to find globular clusters of stars that once belonged to other galaxies within Andromeda. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "This violent galaxy next door is set for a collision with the Milky Way," 2 Oct. 2019 More than 140 globular clusters form a giant halo around our Milky Way Galaxy. — Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, "Mike Lynch: Celestial congestion of Hercules Cluster is a treasure," 8 Sep. 2019 But spring and fall are prime times for globular clusters (dense collections of ancient stars), especially on nights when bright moonlight might drown out the planets. — Erin E. Williams, Washington Post, "In the Central Oregon desert, an observatory with out-of-this-world views," 13 Sep. 2019 Other UDGs seem to have lots of globular clusters, too. — Quanta Magazine, "Strange Dark Galaxy Puzzles Astrophysicists," 27 Sep. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'globular cluster.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

13 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Globular cluster.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/globular%20cluster. Accessed 13 December 2019.

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