One of most impressive sights in the cosmos is the juxtaposition of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and globular star cluster 47 Tucanae in the southern constellation Tucana (the "toucan"). The SMC is a dwarf galaxy a mere 200,000 light years from our Milky Way galaxy. It is classified as an "irregular" galaxy due its being perturbed by its close association with both the Milky Way and the much closer Large Magellanic Cloud. To illustrate, the width of the SMC and Milky Way are 7,000 light years, and 120,000 light years, respectively. And, the mass of the Milky Way is an estimated 400 billion solar masses, compared to an estimated mass of the SMC of only 7 billion solar masses.
47 Tucanae is the second largest globular cluster in our galaxy, containing several mission stars at a distance of 16,700 light years.
As a result, the two objects merely appear side by side. In fact, the SMC is 12 times farther away than 47 Tucanae.
Small Magellanic Cloud and Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae
Date Taken:August 29, 2014
Location Taken:Siding Spring Observatory, NSW Australia
Conditions of Location: Equipment Used:Takahashi FSQ-106 apochromatic refractor, Paramount ME mount, SBIG STL11000 CCD camera, Astrodon LRGB filters.
Processing Used:8 x 3 minutes LRGB, for a total exposure of 96 minutes
Distance from Location:200,000 light years, and 16,700 light years
Constellation:Tucana
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