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Explanation: Have you ever seen another galaxy with your own eyes? The featured image shows the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of the closest neighbors of our Milky Way. If you are anywhere south of latitude 20° N (but the further south, the better), you can see it with the unaided eye if you go to a dark sky location, away from big cities and light polution. It is a dwarf irregular galaxy about 163,000 light-years away, and a member of our Local Group of galaxies. Despite being small, with a total mass approximately equivalent to 10% - 20% of the mass of the Milky Way, the LMC is very actively forming stars. This is likely due in part to the gravitational push and pull of tides caused by the Milky Way on the LMC. Some astronomers have predicted that it will collide with the Milky Way in in about 2 billion years.
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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
Publications with keywords: Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC
Publications with words: Large Magellanic Cloud - LMC
See also:
- APOD: 2025 October 26 Á Halloween and the Ghost Head Nebula
- APOD: 2024 October 2 Á The Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy
- The Tarantula Zone
- The Large Cloud of Magellan
- APOD: 2023 August 27 Á Three Galaxies and a Comet
- The Tarantula Nebula from SuperBIT
- APOD: 2023 March 7 Á Deep Field: The Large Magellanic Cloud