nebula

noun

neb·u·la | \ ˈne-byə-lə

plural nebulae\ ˈne-byə-ˌlē

, -ˌlī \ also nebulas

Definition of nebula

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

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

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Examples of nebula in a Sentence

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Now almost 30 years old, the Hubble Space Telescope captured the Pillars of Creation—vast gas-and-dust towers in a nebula about 7,000 light years away, where new stars are being formed. — WSJ, "Leaps for Humankind," 22 Feb. 2019 Like all stars, our sun began in a nebula, where gas and dust collapsed on itself in a flurry of cosmic friction. — Jill Kiedaisch, Popular Mechanics, "When the Sun Dies, a Giant Crystal Will Take Its Place," 11 Jan. 2019 The photo also reveals just how many star clusters call this nebula, also known as 30 Doradus, home. — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, "A Tarantula and Seahorse Make Up These Dazzling Nebulas," 30 May 2018 The front rows are brimming with stars, nebulas, and supernovas. — Steff Yotka, Vogue, "Rihanna, Celine, and That Versace Deal—The 10 Biggest Stories of the Spring 2019 Season," 5 Oct. 2018 The other theory involves the interstellar clouds of dust known as nebulas. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Cosmic Oddity Challenges What We Know About Pulsars," 19 Sep. 2018 Imaging of the complex nebula that surrounds η Carinae has revealed that a giant star had ejected roughly 10 times the Sun's mass worth of material into its surroundings during what's now known as the Great Eruption. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Just what’s happened to our neighborhood’s most violent star, η Carinae?," 6 Aug. 2018 Imagine Neil deGrasse Tyson onstage exploring the origins of the universe and cloud nebula. — Richard Smirke, Billboard, "MSG Ventures CEO David Dibble Talks 'Re-Writing the Rule Book' With the Next Generation Sphere Venue," 23 Mar. 2018 The models indicate that stars heat up three times faster than previous models indicated, showing that there's still enough heat from stars the size of our sun to light up a nebula. — David Freeman /, NBC News, "Now we know what will happen when the sun dies," 10 May 2018

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.