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molecular cloud

American

[muh-lek-yuh-ler kloud] / məˈlɛk jə lər ˈklaʊd /

noun

Astronomy.

an interstellar cloud of gas and dust composed of hydrogen, helium, and other molecular remnants of a supernova.

molecular cloud British

noun

a cool dense interstellar region composed of a wide variety of molecules, mainly hydrogen, plus some dust, in which stars are forming

"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

Etymology

Origin of molecular cloud

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

molecular cloud

In this case, they pointed their telescopes toward a Galactic Center molecular cloud named G+0.693-0.027.

From Salon ● May 31, 2025

This leaves primordial inhomogeneities within the molecular cloud as the confirmed explanation.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 29, 2024

On the other end of the scale, we have the Orion B molecular cloud complex, a truly enormous site of active star formation that’s over a thousand light-years away and many hundreds of light-years across.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 24, 2023

This newly released image shows a segment of the Chameleon I molecular cloud, some 630 light years from Earth.

From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2023

The infrared image lets us see how large and full of cooler material the Orion molecular cloud really is.

From Textbooks ● Oct. 13, 2016

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023