protoplanetary disk
Americannoun
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A rotating disk of dust and gas that surrounds the core of a developing solar system. It may eventually develop into orbiting celestial bodies such as planets and asteroids.
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See more at planetesimal
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
This so-called protoplanetary disk looks like a butterfly in the images, according to Monsch.
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024
This first result focuses on the protoplanetary disk termed XUE 1, which is located in the star cluster Pismis 24.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 30, 2023
It might just be an unlayered conglomeration of grains assembled in a metal-rich region of the protoplanetary disk of gas and dust surrounding the young Sun.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 13, 2023
As central stars form, the remainder of the cloud flattens into a whirling protoplanetary disk that weaves together worlds from turbulent swirls of gas, ice and dust.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 19, 2023
When young stars form, they are often followed by a disk of gas and dust that orbits around them, known as the protoplanetary disk.
From Space Scoop ● Jan. 30, 2023
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
