| Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary 1,723,403,068 visitors served. |
|
Dictionary/ thesaurus | Medical dictionary | Legal dictionary | Financial dictionary | Acronyms | Idioms | Encyclopedia | Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
Magellanic Cloud |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.03 sec. |
Magellanic CloudEither of two irregular companion galaxies of the Milky Way Galaxy, named for Ferdinand Magellan, whose crew discovered them during the first voyage around the world. They share a gaseous envelope and lie about 22° apart in the sky near the southern celestial pole (see celestial sphere). They are visible to the unaided eye in the Southern Hemisphere but cannot be seen from northern latitudes. The Large Magellanic Cloud is more than 150,000 light-years from Earth; the Small Magellanic Cloud is roughly 200,000 light-years away. They are excellent laboratories for the study of the formation and evolution of stars. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
|
| ? Mentioned in | ? References in periodicals archive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Large Magellanic Cloud streams through space at 378 kilometers per second, while the Small Magellanic Cloud moves at 302 km/see. Any irregular satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, such as the Large Magellanic Cloud, "is likely to have more than its fair share" of bursts, he adds. Shock waves from a starburst region in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud compress the surrounding gas, giving life to new generations of stars. |
| Encyclopedia |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Free toolbar & extensions |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup | Partner with us |
|---|