A satellite galaxy [
http://anzwers.org/… ] of the Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ]) is a wonder of the southern sky, a mere 210,000 light-years distant in the constellation Tucana [
http://www.hawastso… ]. Found among the SMC's clusters and nebulae NGC 346 is a star forming region about 200 light-years across, pictured above [
http://hubblesite.o… 2005/04/ ] by the Hubble Space Telescope. Exploring NGC 346 [
http://hubblesite.o… 2005/04/fastfacts/ ], astronomers have identified a population of embryonic stars strung along [
http://hubblesite.o… 2005/04/video/a ] the dark, intersecting dust lanes visible here on the right. Still collapsing within their natal clouds [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ], the stellar infants' [
http://starchild.gs… StarChild.html ] light is reddened by the intervening dust. A small [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ], irregular galaxy, the SMC itself represents a type of galaxy more common in the early Universe. But these small galaxies are thought to be a building blocks [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] for the larger galaxies present today. Within the SMC, stellar nurseries like NGC 346 are also thought to be similar to those found in the early Universe [
http://antwrp.gsfc.… ].
explanation
A satellite galaxy [ http://anzwers.org/free/universe/sattelit.html ] of the Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000430.html ]) is a wonder of the southern sky, a mere 210,000 light-years distant in the constellation Tucana [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/tuc/ ]. Found among the SMC's clusters and nebulae NGC 346 is a star forming region about 200 light-years across, pictured above [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/ 2005/04/ ] by the Hubble Space Telescope. Exploring NGC 346 [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/ 2005/04/fastfacts/ ], astronomers have identified a population of embryonic stars strung along [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/ 2005/04/video/a ] the dark, intersecting dust lanes visible here on the right. Still collapsing within their natal clouds [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040529.html ], the stellar infants' [ http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/ StarChild.html ] light is reddened by the intervening dust. A small [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041116.html ], irregular galaxy, the SMC itself represents a type of galaxy more common in the early Universe. But these small galaxies are thought to be a building blocks [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031117.html ] for the larger galaxies present today. Within the SMC, stellar nurseries like NGC 346 are also thought to be similar to those found in the early Universe [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040929.html ].
Explanation
false