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Examples of island universe in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The galaxy spanning Edwin Hubble’s glass plates will be an island universe no more.
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WIRED, 12 Nov. 2023
Kant was right: such nebulae truly were island universes, and the Milky Way was merely one among many.
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Phil Plait, Scientific American, 4 Aug. 2023
That’s interesting work suggesting that island universes, as galaxies were originally called, may not be so independent after all.
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The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 23 June 2023
The clusters will survive, but each one will become an island universe, effectively alone in a vast expanse of nothingness.
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Popular Mechanics, 6 June 2023
Kant coined the term island universe to describe a galaxy.
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Katherine Kornei, Discover Magazine, 1 Oct. 2014
This picture -- one of four peering at this gigantic island universe -- is looking into the galaxy's halo, the cloud of stars surrounding the main disk.
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Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 26 July 2011
This little island universe holds far fewer stars than your average galaxy.
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Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 5 Sep. 2019
Filled to the brim with hundreds of billions of stars, these island universes often seem like the most prominent occupants of space’s vast emptiness.
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Scientific American, 30 Aug. 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'island universe.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1867, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near island universe
Cite this Entry
“Island universe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/island%20universe. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
Kids Definition
island universe
noun
: a galaxy other than the Milky Way
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