Magellanic Clouds

American  

plural noun

singular

Magellanic Cloud

1. Astronomy. a set of two irregular galactic clusters, visible in the southern hemisphere, which orbit the Milky Way.

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Magellanic Clouds Scientific  

/ măj′ə-lăn′ĭk /

1. Two small, irregular dwarf galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. They are among the galaxies closest to the Milky Way and are faintly visible near the south celestial pole.

2. See also irregular galaxy

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Example Sentences

Described as "intermediate mass helium stars stripped through binary interaction," the scientists found 25 stars that fit the profile located in two neighboring galaxies, the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds.

From Salon • Dec. 19, 2023

The stars are located in two well-studied neighboring galaxies, the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds.

From Science Daily • Dec. 15, 2023

The Milky Way, our home galaxy, was rolling straight overhead, and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, satellite galaxies of our own, floated alongside like ghosts.

From New York Times • Apr. 18, 2023

Werner and Eisenhardt also discuss insights from infrared observations of the Milky Way, the close neighbouring galaxies called the Magellanic Clouds, and others.

From Nature • Jun. 25, 2019

We also now have evidence for several other black holes in systems like Cygnus X-l in our galaxy and in two neighboring galaxies called the Magellanic Clouds.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking