APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
The Small Cloud of Magellan
Explanation: The southern sky contains wonders almost unknown in the north. These wonders include the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds : 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. The SMC contains many young, hot, blue stars indicating it has undergone a recent period of star formation, possibly due to a collision with the LMC 500 million years ago . The bright object on the right is a globular cluster near the outskirts of the Milky Way .
| Date | July 19, 1997 |
|---|---|
| Credit |
Credit: Photograph made from plates taken with the UK Schmidt Telescope. Color photography by David Malin. Copyright: Anglo-Australian Telescope Board |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |