Small Magellanic Cloud
A dwarf galaxy of a few hundred million stars, a near neighbour of the Milky Way.
The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a dwarf irregular galaxy about 200,000 light-years away, holding several hundred million stars and about 7 billion solar masses. It is one of the most distant objects visible to the naked eye.
It lies in Tucana and part of Hydrus and forms a pair with the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is currently a satellite of the Milky Way but was likely once a satellite of the LMC.
Quick Facts
- Stars
- 3 billion
- Constellation
- Tucana and Hydrus
- Names
- SMC
- NGC 292
- PGC 3085
- Nubecula Minor
More in Galactic Structures & Nebulae
Elsewhere in Cosmos Codex
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