The Large Cloud Of Magellan (LMC)
Explanation:
Ferdinand Magellan and his
crew had plenty of time to study
the southern sky during their
famous voyage around the world.
As a result, two fuzzy cloud-like
objects, not visible to
northern hemisphere dwellers,
are now known as the Clouds of Magellan.
These star clouds are small
irregular galaxies,
satellites of our larger
Milky Way spiral galaxy.
The
Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)
pictured above is only about 180,000 light-years distant - the
only known galaxy closer is the
Sagittarius Dwarf.
Both the LMC and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC)
are joined to the
Milky Way by a
stream of cold hydrogen gas.
An unusual effect called
gravitational lensing
has
recently been detected in a few LMC stars,
and there is hope this could tell us important information about
the true composition of our universe.
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.
