The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is an irregular galaxy orbiting the Milky Way. Your eye will see it as a hazy patch of light in the sky about three degrees across. But you have to be pretty far south in the Northern Hemisphere or south of the equator to see it.

Because of its low surface brightness, it might not be visible in the light-polluted skies of cities. It is best viewed with binoculars and telescopes under low magnification.

Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to note the galaxy, during his attempted circumnavigation of the globe in 1519. Magellan promptly adopted the SMC as a navigational aid.

The SMC is 200,000 light-years away, slightly more distant than its neighbor, the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is a small galaxy, with an estimated mass of two billion suns. Gravitational interactions with the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Milky Way have distorted its shape.

Click here to see if this object is visible in your sky tonight.