Astronomy Picture of the Day
    


The Small Cloud of Magellan
<< Yesterday 19.09.1995 Tomorrow >>
The Small Cloud of Magellan
Credit & Copyright: Anglo-Australian Telescope Board
Explanation: Almost unknown to casual observers in the northern hemisphere, the southern sky contains two diffuse wonders known as the Magellanic Clouds. The Magellanic Clouds are small irregular galaxies orbiting our own larger Milky Way spiral galaxy. The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), pictured here, is about 250,000 light years away and contains a preponderance of young, hot, blue stars indicating it has undergone a recent period of star formation. There is evidence that the SMC is actually two galaxies superposed to appear as one. The bright blob near the right hand edge of the frame is a globular cluster near the outskirts of the Milky Way.

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
 < September 1995  >
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su




123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day