chondrule

American  

[kon-drool] / ˈkɒn drul /

noun

1. a small round mass of olivine or pyroxene found in stony meteorites.

---

chondrule British  

/ ˈkɒndruːl /

noun

1. one of the small spherical masses of mainly silicate minerals present in chondrites

---

chondrule Scientific  

/ kŏn′dro̅o̅l /

1. A small round granule of olivine or pyroxene occurring in many stony meteorites. Chondrules are thought to have formed from the condensation of hot gases in the solar system.

---

Etymology

Origin of chondrule

First recorded in 1885–90; chondr- + -ule

Example Sentences

Today there are, the joke goes, as many theories about chondrule formation as there are chondrule scientists themselves—with the acerbic addendum that tomorrow there will inevitably be even more.

From Scientific American • Dec. 8, 2020

In the other camp, which proposes chondrule formation was post-planetesimal, one of the more prominent models is called impact jetting.

From Scientific American • Dec. 8, 2020

“If there were no chondrules, and it looked like there had never been chondrules in them, then maybe chondrule formation is not such a ubiquitous process,” says Russell.

From Scientific American • Dec. 8, 2020

Most of our ideas on chondrule formation come from modeling of the early solar system and performing experiments on Earth to replicate different formation methods.

From Scientific American • Dec. 8, 2020

Then he ground the remainder and purified a sample of meteor material until it was free of chondrule fragments.

From Time Magazine Archive