Large Magellanic Cloud
galaxy
The Large Magellanic Cloud — the Milky Way's largest satellite galaxy, ~163,000 light-years away, a barred irregular dwarf ~14,000 light-years across. It hosts the Tarantula Nebula, the most active star-forming region known nearby, and was home to supernova 1987A.
Open in 3D viewSee Large Magellanic Cloud in the live, interactive 3D map
Science
Classification
- Type
- Barred irregular dwarf galaxy (Milky Way satellite)
- Distance
- ~163,000 light-years
- Diameter
- ~14,000 light-years
- Stars
- ~20-30 billion · estimated
Notable
- Tarantula Nebula
- The most active starburst region known nearby
- SN 1987A
- The nearest naked-eye supernova since 1604
How we know
- Note
- A REAL photograph of the Large Magellanic Cloud, at its real position orbiting the Milky Way and its real physical size. As with any galaxy, its true 3-D orientation can't be shown, so the image is presented as seen from Earth.
Discovery & history
- Name
- Named for Ferdinand Magellan, whose crew reported the two 'clouds' during the first circumnavigation.
A naked-eye smudge of the southern sky known to Polynesian, Aboriginal Australian and Middle-Eastern observers for millennia; recorded by Al Sufi (964 AD) and by Magellan's 1519-22 voyage, after which Europe named it.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image