Phrase guide

red nugget galaxy

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A type of passive, massive and compact elliptical galaxy, that has been little changed over many billions of years, having little internal activity, little to no interaction with other galaxies, little to no new star formation in billions of years. The galaxies typically are many times more massive, and many times smaller, than our Milky Way Galaxy. The redness grows as stars age, which as a population, become redder with time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

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Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From red + nugget + galaxy. From the highly red colouration of the galaxies, and high density and compactness, like a dense gold nugget.