nebulium

[nuh-byoo-lee-uhm]

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of nebulium¹

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

Example Sentences

A recent investigator of the distribution of luminosity in the great nebula of Orion finds that radiations from nebulium are confined chiefly to the Huygenian region of the nebula and its immediate neighborhood.

From Project Gutenberg

The other element, to which he gives the name Nebulium, will have an atomic weight of 2·1.

From Project Gutenberg

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

To this Sir William Huggins has given the provisional name of "Nebulium."

From Project Gutenberg