                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2023 September 7

                         The Large Cloud of Magellan
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Willocks

   Explanation: The 16th century Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan
   and his crew had plenty of time to study the southern sky during the
   first circumnavigation of planet Earth. As a result, two fuzzy
   cloud-like objects easily visible to southern hemisphere skygazers are
   known as the Clouds of Magellan, now understood to be satellite
   galaxies of our much larger, spiral Milky Way galaxy. About 160,000
   light-years distant in the constellation Dorado, the Large Magellanic
   Cloud is seen in this sharp galaxy portrait. Spanning about 15,000
   light-years or so, it is the most massive of the Milky Way's satellite
   galaxies and is the home of the closest supernova in modern times, SN
   1987A. The prominent patch above center is 30 Doradus, also known as
   the magnificent Tarantula Nebula, a giant star-forming region about
   1,000 light-years across.

                   Tomorrow's picture: large star factory
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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