globular cluster


nounAstronomy.
  1. a comparatively older, spherically symmetrical, compact group of up to a million old stars, held together by mutual gravitation, that are located in the galactic halo and move in giant and highly eccentric orbits around the galactic center.

Origin of globular cluster

1
First recorded in 1855–60

Words Nearby globular cluster

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use globular cluster in a sentence

  • A homely illustration may serve to show the appearance which a globular cluster presents in a good telescope.

  • The largest and most magnificent globular cluster in the heavens is ω Centauri, in the Southern Hemisphere.

  • The Cerberans, an intelligent saurian race from a globular cluster, exploded into the Galaxy in vast numbers.

    The Ethical Way | Joseph Farrell
  • The Cerberans were crushed, but the infested area was huge and the invasion of the globular cluster took time.

    The Ethical Way | Joseph Farrell
  • Eddington concludes that this Taurus group is a globular cluster with a slight central condensation.

    Astronomy | David Todd

British Dictionary definitions for globular cluster

globular cluster

noun
  1. astronomy a densely populated spheroidal star cluster with the highest concentration of stars near its centre, found in the galactic halo and in other galaxies

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for globular cluster

globular cluster

[ glŏbyə-lər ]


  1. A spherical mass made up of thousands to hundreds of thousands of densely packed stars of nearly the same age (typically very old). Globular clusters occupy the inner regions of a galactic halo and revolve around the nucleus of galaxies in highly elliptical orbits inclined to the disk of the spiral arms. There are approximately 150 of these clusters in the Milky Way. It is believed that globular clusters can provide information about the evolution and lifespan of stars. Compare open cluster.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.