stellar nursery

stellar nursery (plural stellar nurseries)

1. (astronomy) An area of outer space within a dense nebula in which gas and dust are contracting, resulting in the formation of new stars.
   • 1964 Jan. 1, Ronald Kotulak, "City's science role boosted during year," Chicago Tribune, p. C18:

     Karl Henize, a Northwestern astronomer, reported finding a cluster of 33 stars in a stellar nursery. The stars recently condensed from surrounding clouds of dust.

   • 1993 Jan. 8, Paul Leavitt, "Satellite gives boost to 'Big Bang' theory," USA Today, p. O3A:

     NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer satellite photographed dusty regions of the Milky Way, which are our galaxy's stellar nurseries.

   • 2006 Nov. 2, "Space policy: Mercy mission," Economist (retrieved 22 July 2011):

     Since its launch in 1990 the Hubble space telescope has captured beautiful images of the universe, such as the birth of stars in stellar nurseries.

• molecular cloud

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