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dark nebula

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.

Origin of dark nebula

First recorded in 1930–35
Also called absorption nebula.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for absorption nebula

dark nebula

noun
  1. a type of nebula that is observed by its blocking of radiation from other sourcesSee nebula
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
absorption nebula in Science

dark nebula

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