Galaxy
The Small Magellanic Cloud
Also SMC · NGC 292
A dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, visible to the naked eye in the far southern sky.
Measured
- Distance
- about 203,700 light-years (published estimates 202,200–205,200)
- Size
- about 18,800 light-years across (approximate)
- Constellation
- Tucana
- Position (J2000)
- RA 0h 52m 45s, Dec −72.83°
How far, from the Sun
About 204,000 light-years. To cross it:
- Light204,000 years
- Voyager 1's speed3.62 billion years
- Driving at 100 km/h2.2 trillion years
Voyager 1 at the speed it moved outward over the year to 2026-10-25 (JPL Horizons). Driving: nonstop, never refuelling.
Facts
- It contains hundreds of millions of stars.
- Henrietta Leavitt found the Cepheid period–luminosity law from its stars, published in 1912.
- Those stars became the first known standard candles for measuring distances to other galaxies.
Where this comes from
- Graczyk et al. 2020, eclipsing binaries (62.44 ± 0.47 kpc)
Every catalogue Ouranos draws is credited on the credits page.