INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does interstellar medium mean? 

• INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM (noun)
  The noun INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM has 1 sense:

1. interstellar space including streams of protons moving from the stars

  Familiarity information: INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Interstellar space including streams of protons moving from the stars

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("interstellar medium" is a kind of...):

interstellar space (the space between stars)

 Context examples 

But the shockwave it creates in the interstellar medium can still be seen here.

(The Giant Galaxy Around the Giant Black Hole, NASA)

As the neutron star travels through the interstellar medium at greater than the speed of sound, a shock can form where the interstellar medium and the pulsar wind interact.

(Hubble Uncovers Never-Before-Seen Features Around a Neutron Star, NASA)

In contrast, the material around an evolved star is expanding and is in the process of escaping to the interstellar medium.

(NASA Team Probes Peculiar Age-Defying Star, NASA)

Although dust only makes up about 1 percent of the interstellar medium (the stuff between the stars), it can have big effects on astronomical observations.

(All we are is dust in the interstellar wind, NSF)

This may be due to the motion of the host star plowing through the interstellar medium, like the bow wave from a boat crossing a lake.

(Hubble Finds Huge System of Dusty Material Enveloping the Young Star HR 4796A, NASA)

They have apparently been made rather uniform through some repetitive processing in the interstellar medium, the researchers said.

(Saturn Spacecraft Samples Interstellar Dust, NASA)

We know because the explosions blew an enormous bubble in the interstellar medium, and we're inside it.

(Evidence for supernovas near Earth, NASA)

As the material is ejected, it is heated up and smashes into the surrounding interstellar medium.

(Spitzer Studies a Stellar Playground With a Long History, NASA)

These turbulent structures are key to the redistribution of the heavier elements — which are cooked up by massive stars as they live and die — into the interstellar medium, where they eventually form new stars and planets.

(Dead Star Circled by Light, ESO)

The dust survived the later onslaught of shock waves from the supernova explosion, and is now flowing into the interstellar medium where it can become part of the 'seed material' for new stars and planets.

(Missing Link Between Supernovae and Planet Formation, NASA)