Small Magellanic Cloud

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a dwarf galaxy located about 200,000 light-years from Earth, close to our Milky Way galaxy. It appears as a faint, irregular shape in the southern sky and is part of the Local Group of galaxies. The SMC contains billions of stars, nebulae, and star clusters, and it provides valuable insights into galaxy formation and evolution. Due to its proximity, astronomers study the SMC to better understand how dwarf galaxies interact with larger galaxies like the Milky Way.