Definitions
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Astron.) Either of two conspicuous celestial nebulæ near the south celestial pole, resembling thin white clouds, each of which is a galaxy{2} smaller than but separate from the Milky Way galaxy, and together they are the galactic formations nearest to our galaxy. They are not visible from the northern hemisphere, and are named after Ferdinand Magellan, who saw them in his expedition, which passed through the Strait of Magellan in South America, and one ship of which completed the first circumnavigation of the globe.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun astronomy Either of two irregular
galaxies that are close companions of ourMilky Way galaxy .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun either of two small galaxies orbiting the Milky Way; visible near the south celestial pole
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The star, called R136a1, was discovered in the Tarantula Nebula, left, a sprawling cloud of gas and dust in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy about 165,000 light-years away from our own Milky Way.
The Biggest Star 2010
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Of course, it could be the Small Magellanic Cloud after Captain Riker and his crew on board the USS Titan finish destroying a large chunk of it without violating the Prime Directive.
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The finding "implies that massive star-forming regions are the main source of cosmic rays in the Large Magellanic Cloud," Knödlseder said.
Wired Top Stories Ron Cowen 2009
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Using the 50-inch Great Melbourne Telescope in Australia, the team observed 9 million stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Milky Way's nearest galactic neighbor.
A Heavenly Host 2008
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But right now, it's still stupid, having converted barely a percentage point of the mass of the solar system -- it's a mere Magellanic Cloud civilization, infantile and unsubtle and still perilously close to its carbon-chemistry roots.
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They were warlike and aggressive, and had conquered a large part of the … Magellanic Cloud.
Objective: Bajor John Peel 2000
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Here, in this idyllic village, which the noble race that once inhabited this fair planet left behind them when they migrated to the Greater Magellanic Cloud, we have settled down to create a new and better Way of Life.
The Servant Problem Robert F. Young 1950
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The festive grouping sits in a turbulent star-birth region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite of our Milky Way galaxy.
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Astronomers have long considered the possibility that these huge stars formed elsewhere and were then somehow sent off on a runaway course - something we've observed in our own galaxy - but the Large Magellanic Cloud was thought to be too far away for the velocity of the stars to be measured.
"MAIN" via Steve in Google Reader Alasdair Wilkins 2010
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Nebula, a sprawling cloud of gas and dust in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy about
Latest News 2010
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