globular cluster
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- Compare open cluster, stellar association.
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
Hints of additional mergers have been spotted in bundles of stars known as globular clusters.
Those trends together could have explained the apparent “metallicity floor” for globular clusters — all of the less massive, more metal-poor clusters have broken apart over the eons.
A spherical star cluster has surprisingly few heavy elements | Lisa Grossman | October 15, 2020 | Science NewsThere are several potential explanations for that trend, but one is simply that more massive galaxies or globular clusters have more stars.
A spherical star cluster has surprisingly few heavy elements | Lisa Grossman | October 15, 2020 | Science NewsThe globular cluster that held the previous record for lowest “metallicity” has three times that amount.
A spherical star cluster has surprisingly few heavy elements | Lisa Grossman | October 15, 2020 | Science NewsA mid-weight globular cluster is about 100,000 solar masses, but some clusters reach 3 million solar masses.
A spherical star cluster has surprisingly few heavy elements | Lisa Grossman | October 15, 2020 | Science News
A homely illustration may serve to show the appearance which a globular cluster presents in a good telescope.
Young Folks' Library, Volume XI (of 20) | VariousThe largest and most magnificent globular cluster in the heavens is ω Centauri, in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost' | Thomas OrchardThe Cerberans, an intelligent saurian race from a globular cluster, exploded into the Galaxy in vast numbers.
The Ethical Way | Joseph FarrellThe Cerberans were crushed, but the infested area was huge and the invasion of the globular cluster took time.
The Ethical Way | Joseph FarrellEddington concludes that this Taurus group is a globular cluster with a slight central condensation.
Astronomy | David Todd
British Dictionary definitions for globular cluster
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
[ glŏb′yə-lər ]
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.
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