stellar wind

noun

Definition of stellar wind

: plasma continuously ejected from a star's surface into surrounding space

Examples of stellar wind in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This comes to the surface as luminosity and as stellar wind, which can blow off the surface at an astonishing 1,700 kilometers per second, or approximately 3,802,792 miles per hour. David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Astronomers Finally Able to See Beneath Surface of Mysterious Blue Supergiants," 7 May 2019 Bad explanations That's strange, because the dust is formed when the material in the two stellar winds interact. John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Scientists spot two massive stars creating a pinwheel of dust," 20 Nov. 2018 Powerful stellar winds can blow away around half of a carbon star's total mass, creating interstellar dust. David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "The Milky Way Is Full of Potentially Toxic "Space Grease"," 28 June 2018 In 2016, astronomers discovered an Earth-mass planet around Proxima Centauri, but the planet, blasted by radiation and fierce stellar winds, seems unlikely to be habitable. Daniel Clery, Science | AAAS, "What is Alpha Centauri hiding? Searches for Earth-like planets ramp up around our nearest stellar neighbor," 11 Apr. 2018 These heavy elements bubble up to the surface in large amounts, where vicious stellar winds rip them up and eject them into space. Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "The Solar System Could Have Formed in a Bubble Surrounding One of the Hottest Stars," 22 Dec. 2017 The bow shock is formed by the collision of stellar wind with the planet's magnetosphere. Samantha Mathewson, NBC News, "Looking for a Halloween Playlist? NASA Shares Universe's Spooky Sounds," 31 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stellar wind.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of stellar wind

1965, in the meaning defined above

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