nebula

A vast cloud of gas and dust in space, often serving as a nursery for new stars or the remnant of a dying star.

• nebular/ˈnɛbjʊlər/(adj)星云的
• nebulae/ˈnɛbjʊliː/(pl)星云（复数）
• nebulous/ˈnɛbjʊləs/(adj)模糊的

• emission nebula
• planetary nebula
• nebula hypothesis
• Orion Nebula
• stellar nebula

1. 1.The Eagle Nebula's "Pillars of Creation" are columns of gas and dust where new stars are actively forming. (stellar nursery)
2. 2.When our sun dies in about five billion years, it will shed its outer layers as a planetary nebula. (stellar remnant)

• interstellar cloud (gas/dust between stars)
• supernova remnant (debris cloud from stellar explosion, a subtype)

from Latin "nebula" (mist, cloud) — clouds in the sky became clouds among the stars