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Astronomy (thesaurus)

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Preferred term

cometary globule  

Definition

  • A relatively small cloud of dust and gas in the interstellar medium shaped like a comet with a bright-rimmed head. Cometary globules are situated near young massive stars with a strong stellar wind. The wind ionizes gases on the side facing the O stars and sweep away the low-density gas toward the tail. Cometary globules are believed to be molecular cloud condensations, which are so dense that they are not disrupted when an H II region expands into the molecular cloud surrounding it. The Rosette nebula is a good example of an H II region which shows an abundance of cometary globules. (An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics, by M. Heydari-Malayeri, https://dictionary.obspm.fr/index.php?formSearchTextfield=cometary+globule&formSubmit=Search&showAll=1)

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URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/MDL-VV8CTM4S-5

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