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> The Small Magellanic Cloud
The Small Magellanic Cloud
author: Anglo-Australian Observatory/David Malin Images/Novapix
reference: a-gax90-00012
Image Size 300 DPI: 40 * 51 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 small globular cluster at the top of the picture is NGC 362. It is about 30,000 light years distant.
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