stellar nursery

plural stellar nurseries

1. astronomyAn area of outer space within a dense nebula in which gas and dust are contracting, resulting in the formation of new stars.

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

   1993 January 8, Paul Leavitt, “Satellite gives boost to 'Big Bang' theory”, in USA Today, page O3A

   2 more examples

   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.

   1964 January 1, Ronald Kotulak, “City's science role boosted during year”, in Chicago Tribune, page C18

   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.

   2006 November 2, “Space policy: Mercy mission”, in Economist, retrieved 22 Jul 2011