Proper Names | Large Magellanic Cloud, LMC, Nubecula Major Small Magellanic Cloud, SMC, Nubecula Minor | Messier Numbers | None | NGC/IC Number | Large: None Small: NGC 292 | Constellations | Large: Dorado and Mensa Small: Tucana | Right Ascension | Centred on: Large: 5h 23m 50s Small: 0h 58m 12s | Declination | Centred on: Large: -68° 47' 36" Small: -72° 44' 51" | Distance | Large: c.158,200 light years (c.48,500 parsecs) Small: c.199,000 light years (c.61,000 parsecs) | Magnitude | Large: Apparent: +0.6, Absolute: -17.8 Small: Apparent: +2.6, Absolute: -16.3 | Mean Diameter | Large: Apparent: 16.3° (actual: c.14,000 light years) Small: Apparent: 4.0° (actual: c.7,000 light years) | Hubble Type | SBm Barred Spiral (Magellanic) | Optimum Visibility | Large: December / January Small: October (Both Clouds are usually visible from southern latitudes) | Notes | Named for the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, the Magellanic Clouds are small galaxies in orbit around the Milky Way. Each has features suggesting a barred spiral structure, but both Clouds have been considerably deformed by their proximity to the much more massive Milky Way Galaxy. |
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