nebula

noun neb·u·la \ ˈne-byə-lə \

|Updated on: 7 Jun 2018

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of nebula

plural nebulae play \ˈne-byə-ˌlē, -ˌlī\ also nebulas

1 : any of numerous clouds of gas or dust in interstellar space

2 : galaxy 1b; especially : a galaxy other than the Milky Way galaxy —not used technically

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nebular

play \ˈne-byə-lər\ adjective

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Recent Examples of nebula from the Web

The nebula our sun produces won't be as bright as the ones produced by bigger stars.

— david freeman /, NBC News, "Now we know what will happen when the sun dies," 10 May 2018
Indeed, at least three galaxies and six nebulae are named after warm-blooded vertebrates, including the Horsehead, Cat’s Paw, and recently named Manatee Nebulae.

— National Geographic, "The Giant Squid Nebula and More Animals of the Cosmos," 20 Mar. 2018
For example, the renowned Pillars of Creation nebula has two large towers, each about 5 light years tall.

— michael hardy, WIRED, "Space Photos of the Week: Light a Candle for Hubble, Still Gazing Strong," 21 Apr. 2018
The nebula visualization is a great resource for astronomers.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Take a Breathtaking Trip Through the Orion Nebula in NASA’s New Video," 15 Jan. 2018
The famed astronomer is credited with discovering of a variety of nebulas.

— mackenzie cummings-grady, Billboard, "Google Doodle Celebrates 105th Birthday of Famed Astronomer Guillermo Haro," 21 Mar. 2018
The prevailing theory is that a homogenous nebula of material collapsed into the sun and the remaining material, mostly silicates with carbons mixed in, formed the rocky planets and the asteroids.

— jay bennett, Popular Mechanics, "Incredible 'Hypatia' Stone Contains Compounds Not Found in the Solar System," 10 Jan. 2018
Another possibility is that the FRB source is very young and is tucked into a nebula formed by a recent supernova, the explosion that happens when a large star grows up and dies.

— National Geographic, "Mystery Radio Bursts From Space Just Got Even Weirder," 10 Jan. 2018
There's the nebula of who-knows-what-ness that spins around most whisperings involving famous people like threads of cotton candy.

— chelsea peng, Marie Claire, "The Anatomy of a Celebrity Breakup Rumor," 21 Aug. 2015

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

Did You Know?

Nebula comes to us from Latin, where it meant "mist" or "cloud." In its earliest English uses in the 1600s, nebula referred to a cloudy speck or film on the eye that caused vision problems. It was first applied to great interstellar clouds of gas and dust in the early 1700s. The adjective nebulous comes from the same Latin root as nebula, but the first uses of nebulous don't appear in English until the late 1700s, well after the discovery of interstellar nebulae.