Magellanic Clouds
The Magellanic Clouds (Magellanic system or Nubeculae Magellani) are two irregular dwarf galaxies in the southern celestial hemisphere. Orbiting the Milky Way galaxy, these satellite galaxies are members of the Local Group. Because both show signs of a bar structure, they are often reclassified as Magellanic spiral galaxies.
The two galaxies are the following:
- Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), about 163 kly (50 kpc) away
- Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), about 206 kly (63 kpc) away
The Magellanic clouds are visible to the unaided eye from the Southern Hemisphere, but cannot be observed from the most northern latitudes.
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