The Large Magellanic Cloud: A Satellite Galaxy in the Southern Sky

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is the Milky Way’s largest satellite galaxy.
It lies about 160,000 light-years away, visible to the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere.
The LMC spans roughly 14,000 light-years—small compared to the Milky Way, but still vast.
It is rich in gas and dust, fueling active star formation.
The Tarantula Nebula within the LMC is the most active stellar nursery in our galactic neighborhood.
The LMC orbits the Milky Way and interacts gravitationally with the Small Magellanic Cloud.
These interactions create streams of gas stretching between the two galaxies.
Supernova 1987A, one of the brightest observed in modern times, exploded in the LMC.
Despite being irregular in shape, it shows hints of a disrupted barred spiral structure.
The LMC offers astronomers a nearby laboratory to study galaxy evolution and star birth.