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ESO 56-115 — The Large Magellanic
Cloud
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Description of object:
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is visible as a nebulous spot next
to the Milky Way in the Southern Sky even to the naked eye. Together with the
Small Magellanic Cloud it forms a prominent couple in the Southern Celestial
Hemisphere.
LMC's distance is about 170 000 light years. Due to the
relatively short distance one can see a number of single stars, star clusters
and nebulae in the irregularly shaped companion of our Milky Way. It contains
ca. 15 billion single stars. Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to
describe the Magellanic Clouds during his round the world sailing tour in 1519.
Detailed information about the Magellanic Clouds can be found online at
Wikipedia.
Wikipedia. |
The preview above shows the
comparison with the size of the full moon. Please click
here or onto the preview image to get a high-res
version. |
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