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galactic halo

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.

galactic halo

In astronomy, a nearly spherical volume of thinly scattered stars, globular clusters, and tenuous gas observed surrounding spiral galaxies. It may extend far beyond the disk and contain most of the galaxy's mass. The halo of the Milky Way Galaxy is thought to have a radius greater than 100,000 light-years and to be predominantly composed of dark matter.


galactic halo [gə′lak·tik ′hā·lō]
(astronomy)
The spherical distribution of oldest stars that are centered about the galactic center of the Milky Way Galaxy.


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This adds a nice example in the local universe to the growing evidence that galactic halos are built up from the accretion of dwarf satellite galaxies," says study coauthor Eric Peng of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
This type of particle might inhabit a spherical region known as the galactic halo, encompassing our galaxy.
 
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