protoplanetary disk
Americannoun
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protoplanetary disks
plural
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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.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured the most detailed visible light images ever taken of the largest known protoplanetary disk surrounding a young star.
From Science Daily ● May 12, 2026
Image: Artist’s impression of a protoplanetary disk distorted by a shock front created by an expanding bubble.
From Space Scoop ● Sep. 19, 2025
This so-called protoplanetary disk looks like a butterfly in the images, according to Monsch.
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024
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
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.
