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> The Small Magellanic Cloud
The Small Magellanic Cloud
author: Anglo-Australian Observatory/David Malin Images/Novapix
reference: a-gax90-00001
Image Size 300 DPI: 48 * 40 cm
The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is the second nearest galaxy to the Milky Way, (the LMC being the nearest) and is at the distance of about 240,000 light years, quite close enough for it to be resolved into individual stars on this colour picture made from plates taken on the UK Schmidt Telescope. The shape of the SMC defies description and it is therefore classified as an 'irregular' galaxy. The large globular cluster at right is 47 Tucanae, while a smaller one at the top of the picture is NGC 362. It is about 30,000 light years distant, twice as far away as 47 Tuc.
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