What characteristic defines the paradox of nebulae regarding size and mass?
Answer
Gigantic yet having almost no mass.
Nebulae present a significant paradox: while they are immense structures, often spanning hundreds of light-years, the material within them is profoundly rarefied, meaning the gas and dust are extremely spread out. This results in an extraordinarily low density, far less than the best vacuum achievable on Earth. The textual comparison emphasizes this by stating that a volume of nebula material equal to Earth's volume would weigh only a few kilograms. This combination of vast scale and near-negligible mass is a defining physical trait of these interstellar structures.
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