Magellanic Clouds

American  

plural noun

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

Sewilo and her collaborators plan to extend their work by examining more protostars in both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds to explore how widespread these molecules may be.

From Science Daily • Nov. 12, 2025

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 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

Not far outside the Galaxy there are almost certainly planets, orbiting stars in the Magellanic Clouds and in the globular clusters that surround the Milky Way.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan