interstellar medium
1
7.7
- noun
- /ˌɪntərˈstɛlər ˈmiːdiəm/
- Specialized
:
medio interestelar
- MacLow's research focused on the effects of shock waves from supernova explosions on the interstellar medium.
- hot interstellar medium
- local interstellar medium
Maybe, and we still have to prove this, but what we know is that the stuff we are made of is very abundant all over the place, including in interstellar medium.
- Maybe, and we still have to prove this, but what we know is that the stuff we are made of is very abundant all over the place, including in interstellar medium.
- We adopted this name, we made it up, and we use it to talk about our connected sun, Earth, Sun, solar system, Sun, interstellar medium.
Examples
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As stars live and evolve, they return mass to the interstellar medium.
Academic text (1995) -
People who study the interstellar medium have been calculating this for decades.
Blog text (14) -
We must understand how the evolution of the Sun will eventually return our molecules to the interstellar medium.
Academic text (1996) -
In this way, each generation of stars further metal-enriches the interstellar medium, out of which the next generation forms.
Academic text (1994) -
In the Milky Way, the hot interstellar medium is easily detected.
Academic text (1992) -
When did the s-process elements first appear in the interstellar medium of the Galactic halo?
Academic text (2005) -
Astronomers hope to study the detailed chemistry of the interstellar medium, which emits most of its energy in the infrared.
Academic text (2002) -
Red supergiants are, therefore, one of the most important cosmic factories for replenishing the interstellar medium with material processed through nuclear fusion reactions.
Academic text (2004) -
Her research specialties include dwarf galaxies, infrared astronomy, and the interstellar medium.
Academic text (1995) -
Clouds of gas and dust, known as the interstellar medium, are essential for star formation in galaxies.
How Dense
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'interstellar' = between stars and 'medium' = material or substance, so together they denote the material existing between stars. This noun–noun/adj+noun combination follows regular English word-building and similar patterns exist in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Interstellar medium is a name for the thin gas and dust that fills the 'space between stars'. The word interstellar means 'between stars' and medium here means the material in that space, so the phrase means 'the matter between stars'.