Friday, April 11, 2008

4.2 APOD


This is a really cool picture of a Large Magellanic Cloud, the largest satellite galaxy of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. The cloud, which lies about 180,000 light-years away from Earth, spans about 15 light-years across. In long exposure photographs like this one, LMC's resemble spiral galaxies. This specific cloud was home to the largest supernova in modern history. It got it's name because it is visible to the naked eye in the Southern Hemisphere and the explorer, Magellan, used the cloud to help him navigate. The Small Magellanic Cloud is located next to the Large Magellanic Cloud. The SMC is home to hundreds of millions of stars.

No comments: