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Cosmic dust. Cosmic dust – also called extraterrestrial dust, space dust, or star dust – is dust that occurs in outer space or has fallen onto Earth. [1][2] Most cosmic dust particles measure between a few molecules and 0.1 mm (100 μm), such as micrometeoroids (<30 μm) and meteoroids (>30 μm). [3] Cosmic dust can be further distinguished ...
The interstellar medium is composed of multiple phases distinguished by whether matter is ionic, atomic, or molecular, and the temperature and density of the matter. The interstellar medium is composed primarily of hydrogen, followed by helium with trace amounts of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. [1] The thermal pressures of these phases are in ...
An interstellar object is an astronomical object (such as an asteroid, a comet, or a rogue planet, but not a star or stellar remnant) in interstellar space that is not gravitationally bound to a star. This term can also be applied to an object that is on an interstellar trajectory but is temporarily passing close to a star, such as certain ...
The composition of the interstellar medium is the result of nucleosynthesis in stars since the Big Bang and is represented by the abundance of the chemical elements. It consists of three phases: (1) dense, cold, and dusty Dark nebulas, (2) diffuse clouds, and (3) hot coronal gas.
Interplanetary dust cloud. The interplanetary dust cloud, or zodiacal cloud (as the source of the zodiacal light), consists of cosmic dust (small particles floating in outer space) that pervades the space between planets within planetary systems, such as the Solar System. [2] This system of particles has been studied for many years in order to ...
Pillars of Creation is a photograph taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of elephant trunks of interstellar gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula, in the Serpens constellation, some 6,500–7,000 light-years (2,000–2,100 pc; 61–66 Em) from Earth. [1] These elephant trunks had been discovered by John Charles Duncan in 1920 on a plate made with the ...
The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion, [b] and is known as the middle "star" in the "sword" of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky with an apparent magnitude of 4 ...
A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. [1][2] The word is derived from the Greek galaxias (γαλαξίας), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System.