Large Magellanic Cloud

The Milky Way's big satellite galaxy, visible to the naked eye.

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is a dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way about 50 kpc away. It has roughly one-hundredth of the Milky Way's mass and is the fourth-largest galaxy in the Local Group. It is classed as a Magellanic spiral with an off-centre bar, and is predicted to merge with the Milky Way in about 2.4 billion years.

It appears as a faint cloud in the southern sky, straddling Dorado and Mensa, about 10 degrees long.

Quick Facts

Stars

20 billion

Constellation

Dorado/Mensa

Names

LMC
ESO 56- G 115
PGC 17223
Nubecula Major

More in Galactic Structures & Nebulae

Small Magellanic Cloud Cartwheel Galaxy Pinwheel Galaxy Tadpole Galaxy Carina Nebula Milky Way Horsehead Nebula Tarantula Nebula Veil Nebula Rosette Nebula

Elsewhere in Cosmos Codex

PSR B1257+12 b · Exoplanets XTE J1118+480 · Black Holes & Exotic TESS · Missions & Telescopes Saturn · Planets & Moons Pluto · Planets & Moons Altair · Stars

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…

Open in the interactive codex →