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Concept information

Preferred term

Interstellar medium  

Definition

  • The environment containing the interstellar matter (the gas and dust that exists in open space between the stars), consisting of gas (mostly hydrogen) and dust. Even at its densest phase, the interstellar medium is emptier than the best vacuum man can create in the laboratory, but because space is so vast, the interstellar medium still adds up to a huge amount of mass. (en)

Entry terms

  • Interstellar material (en)
  • Interstellar matter (en)
  • Interstellar media (en)
  • ISM (en)

Editorial note

URI

http://astrothesaurus.org/uat/847

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