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spiral arm

American  

noun

Astronomy.
  1. any of the elongated and curved spiral sections that are connected to the center of a spiral galaxy.


Etymology

Origin of spiral arm

First recorded in 1910–15

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:

It also could hold clues to why the Milky Way has its spiral arm.

From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2023

This discovery also connects spiral arm instabilities to the episodic growth bursts - a key factor for how high-mass stars form.

From Space Scoop ● Mar. 29, 2023

But that usually requires the supermassive black hole in the center of a galaxy, and the Cow is situated in its galaxy’s spiral arm.

From Science Magazine ● Jan. 11, 2019

The Sun is located in the Orion Spur, which is a minor spiral arm located between two other arms.

From Textbooks ● Oct. 13, 2016

But if we wish to find the Earth, we must redirect our course to the remote outskirts of the Galaxy, to an obscure locale near the edge of a distant spiral arm.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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