Description: 在天文学中，celestial body、celestial object、astronomical body和astronomical object等术语几乎可以互换使用，它们是天文学家研究的太空中所有物理实体和天体的通用术语，包括恒星、行星、星系、气体云等。有些天文学家在狭义上使用天体或天文物体，即指与周围环境明显分离的物体——从这个意义上说，行星是天体，而气体云则不是（但它仍然是天文物体）。在最小的尺度上，这些术语并不常用。质子可能从外太空到达我们这里，但通常不会称它为天文物体或天体。

Related Terms:

• 小行星
• 彗星
• 银河系
• Planet

Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval

The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".