Deep sky · Galaxy in Tucana · SMC · NGC 292
Galaxy
Small Magellanic Cloud
The Small Magellanic Cloud: a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way, where Henrietta Leavitt found the key to measuring the universe.
- Type
- Galaxy
- Designations
- SMC · NGC 292
- Constellation
- Tucana
- Apparent magnitude
- 2.2
- Apparent size
- 5.2° × 3.4°
- Position (J2000)
- RA 0h 53m · Dec −72° 48′
Discovery
Studying pulsing stars in it in 1908–12, Leavitt noticed the brighter ones pulse more slowly. Because they all lay at about the same distance, that meant a rule — and a way to measure how far away galaxies are.