SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD

(Redirected from Lesser Magellanic Cloud)

The 'Small Magellanic Cloud' (SMC) is a dwarf galaxy^[1] in orbit around the Milky Way Galaxy. It contains several hundred million stars.^[2]
Some speculate that the SMC was once a barred spiral galaxy that was disrupted by the Milky Way to become somewhat irregular.
^[3] It still contains a central bar structure.
At a distance of about 200,000 light-years, it is one of the Milky Way's nearest neighbors. It is also one of the most distant objects that can be seen with the naked eye.
With a mean declination of approximately -73 degrees, it can only be viewed from the Southern Hemisphere and the lower latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. It is located in the constellation of Tucana and appears as a hazy, light patch in the night sky about 3 degrees across. It looks like a detached piece of the Milky Way. Since it has a very low surface brightness, it is best viewed from a dark site away from city lights.
It forms a pair with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which is positioned a further 20 degrees to the east. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a member of the Local Group.

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See also

References

External links

See also

★ Small Magellanic Cloud in fiction

★ Large Magellanic Cloud

★ Magellanic Clouds

★ Objects within the Small Magellanic Cloud

★
★ NGC 265

★
★ NGC 290

★
★ NGC 346

★ Small Magellanic Cloud (Star Fleet Universe)

References

1. [1]
2. [2]
3. [3]

External links

★ NASA Extragalactic Database entry on the SMC

★ SEDS entry on the SMC

★ SMC at ESA/Hubble