The Large Magellanic Cloud is named for the explorer Ferdinand Magellan,
who saw it during his voyages in 1519. The object had been noticed centuries
earlier by the Arab astronomer Al Sufi, who noted it in 964 as "the White Ox".
Of course, it was also known from prehistoric times by inhabitants of the southern
hemisphere, since the LMC is easily visible to the unaided eye, appearing as a
detached patch of the Milky Way in the far southern sky.

In reality, the LMC is a dwarf galaxy that for a long time was believed to be in a
150 billion year orbit around our own larger Milky Way Galaxy. New data from the
Hubble Space Telescope suggests that it is not in orbit around the Milky Way at all,
butis passing by in a once-only close encounter with us.

It is 20,000 light years across, making it the
fourth largest galaxy in the Local Group (after M31, the Milky Way, and M 33).
It is about 170,000 light years away, making it the third closest galaxy (after
the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy and the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy, neither of which
is easily seen).

The LMC is usually classified as an "irregular" galaxy, but even in this image
one can see hints of a spiral arm and a clear central bar. Some have suggested
that the LMC is in fact a small barred spiral galaxy that has been distorted by
its close encounter with the Milky Way.

Image data:
Camera: Canon 350 XT (unmodified)
Lense: Canon 50mm, set at f/2.2 (cropped)
Mount: LXD-55
Exposure: 30 seconds x 120
Location: Ngorongoro Farmhouse, Tanzania