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Credit & Copyright: Anglo-Australian Telescope
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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.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day