Physics Concepts and Definitions

Space is full of dust. You probably know intuitively that this isn't exactly the same kind of dust as the stuff collecting on the jacket of that pop astronomy book you keep meaning to read. Cosmic dust, also known as "space dust," is the name for all of the extremely fine solid particles that we observe floating in space between stars. Above, this combination emission/reflection nebula in the constellation Cygnus is intertwined with black rivers of dust and is probably a star-forming region. Next, see dust swirling around a black hole.

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