nebulium

American  

[nuh-byoo-lee-uhm] / nəˈbju li əm /

noun

Astronomy.

1. a hypothetical element once thought to be present in emission nebulae because of certain unidentified spectral lines, now known to be forbidden transitions of oxygen and nitrogen ions.

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Etymology

Origin of nebulium

First recorded in 1895–1900; nebul(a) + -ium

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nebulium

Certain unfamiliar lines in the spectra of far off nebulae have long been thought by astronomers to be made by a mysterious element which they called nebulium.

From Time Magazine Archive

Accordingly they created by mutual consent a new element, called it "nebulium," and doubted that it existed.

From Time Magazine Archive

The nebulium lines are relatively strong in the central denser parts of the Orion and Trifid nebulae, but the hydrogen bright-lines are relatively very strong in the faint outlying parts of these nebulae.

From Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 by Anonymous

As soon as the stellar state is reached nebulium is no longer in evidence.

From Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 by Anonymous

The gas "nebulium," not yet found on the earth, is the most characteristic constituent of irregular nebulæ.

From The New Heavens by George Ellery Hale