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