facula
[ fak-yuh-luh ]
/ ˈfæk yə lə /
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noun, plural fac·u·lae [fak-yuh-lee]. /ˈfæk yəˌli/. Astronomy.
an irregular, unusually bright patch on the sun's surface.
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Origin of facula
OTHER WORDS FROM facula
fac·u·lar, adjectiveWords nearby facula
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for facula
Facula, fak′ū-la, n. a spot brighter than the rest of the surface, sometimes seen on the sun's disc:—pl.
He considers it indeed "highly probable that the preparatory sign of a new spot is always a small, bright patch of facula."
A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century|Agnes M. (Agnes Mary) Clerke
British Dictionary definitions for facula
facula
/ (ˈfækjʊlə) /
noun plural -lae (-ˌliː)
any of the bright areas on the sun's surface, usually appearing just before a sunspot and subject to the same 11-year cycle
Derived forms of facula
facular, adjectiveWord Origin for facula
C18: from Latin: little torch, from fax torch
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Scientific definitions for facula
facula
[ făk′yə-lə ]
Plural faculae (făk′yə-lē′)
A bright, cloudlike structure on the Sun's surface, ascending several hundred kilometers above the photosphere and often associated with sunspots. Faculae are formed when a strong magnetic field heats a region of the photosphere to higher temperatures than the surrounding area. They occur all over the Sun but are usually only visible near the limb (the outer edge of the Sun's apparent disk), where the photosphere appears dimmer than in the center.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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