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deep space

deep space

25 6.4
An area far beyond the solar system, between stars and galaxies
  • noun
  • /dip speɪs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : espacio profundo
  • Astronomers have discovered galaxies in deep space that are billions of light-years away.
  • deep space objects
  • deep space mission

Do you hope to go out to ISS, out to deep space one day?

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Examples

  • Scientists are developing new technologies to explore deep space beyond our solar system.

  • Others might make ideal gas stations for ships headed to deep space, or even host entire human colonies.

  • We can look into deep space and get so much information just from the light.

  • Six months in deep space.

  • But we did get a lead from the deep space photographs.

  • A message of unknown origin from deep space... ... was received by American scientists.

  • In fact, the idea of six months alone in deep space was frightening.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Men did indeed walk on the moon and on Mars and sent probes into deep space.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • And so at last, mankind began the conquest and colonization of deep space.

  • But not all cosmic rays originate from deep space; some originate from our own Sun.

    Academic text (2004)

Synonyms

interstellar space
vsdeep space
  • Specialized
4 6.0

The space between stars that contains gas, dust, and small particles

is wider, covering both between stars and the areas between galaxies
intergalactic space
vsdeep space
  • Specialized
1 7.5

The area between separate galaxies in the universe

is broader, including regions inside galaxies as well as between them

How Far

intergalactic space
  • Specialized
1 7.5
interstellar space
  • Specialized
4 6.0
deep space
  • Specialized
25 6.4
outer space
91 3.0

Surface Forms

deep space singular
deep spaces plural

Morphology

deep + space

The noun phrase is directly compositional: 'deep' (far/extensive) combined with 'space' (the cosmos) yields the sense of very distant or extensive regions of outer space. This follows a common adjective+noun pattern that is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Deep space uses the picture of very deep emptiness out in space, like a dark sea far from Earth, to show great distance. That's why it means the parts of space 'beyond our solar system'.