dark nebula

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. a cloud of interstellar gas and dust that absorbs and thus obscures the light from stars behind it, appearing as a dark patch in front of a bright nebula or in an otherwise bright area of sky.

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dark nebula British  

noun

1. a type of nebula that is observed by its blocking of radiation from other sources See nebula

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dark nebula Scientific  

1. See absorption nebula

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Etymology

Origin of dark nebula

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

"It is very difficult to capture dark nebula with any kind of clarity," explained Dr Ed Bloomer.

From BBC • Sep. 15, 2022

Barnard 68 is an example of a relatively dense cloud or dark nebula containing tiny, solid dust grains.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

But the difficulties are considerable, and some astronomers prefer to think that the blazing star may merely have lit up a dark nebula which already existed.

From The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4) A Plain Story Simply Told by Thomson, J. Arthur

Now, if this dark nebula was previously existing in this way all round the star which blazed up, the question naturally arises whether the nebula had anything to do with the conflagration.

From Astronomical Discovery by Turner, Herbert Hall

It was suggested at the time that the bursting of a star may merely have lit up a previously dark nebula, but the spectroscope does not support this.

From The Story of Evolution by McCabe, Joseph