planetary nebula
noun
: a usually compact luminous ring-shaped nebula that is composed of matter which has been ejected from a hot star at its center
Examples of planetary nebula in a Sentence
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Scientists believe that one of the planetary nebula’s two orbiting stars — once bigger than our sun — gave up the ghost.
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Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026
The image captures the Crystal Ball Nebula, or NGC 1514, a planetary nebula found some 1,500 light-years away from us in the constellation Taurus, the Bull.
—Brett Tingley, Space.com, 22 May 2026
The distribution of buckyballs and other molecules in the planetary nebula will help astrophysicists decipher how these structures evolve over time and know more about what chemistry fuels the cosmos.
—Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 24 Apr. 2026
Amateur astronomers can squint into an eight-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and learn how to identify a dwarf galaxy from a planetary nebula.
—Mark Johanson, Outside, 18 Mar. 2026
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Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026
The image captures the Crystal Ball Nebula, or NGC 1514, a planetary nebula found some 1,500 light-years away from us in the constellation Taurus, the Bull.
—Brett Tingley, Space.com, 22 May 2026
The distribution of buckyballs and other molecules in the planetary nebula will help astrophysicists decipher how these structures evolve over time and know more about what chemistry fuels the cosmos.
—Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 24 Apr. 2026
Amateur astronomers can squint into an eight-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and learn how to identify a dwarf galaxy from a planetary nebula.
—Mark Johanson, Outside, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for planetary nebula
Cite this Entry
“Planetary nebula.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/planetary%20nebula. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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