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Definition of Small Magellanic Cloud
: a pair of small galaxies that is located 200,000 light-years away from the Milky Way and is visible within 25 degrees of the south celestial pole Scientists using the Spitzer Space Telescope claimed to have found the glowing traces of the universe's first generation of stars. Roughly 5,000 baby stars were discovered in the Small Magellanic Cloud, and spectrographic imagery captured a young star fleeing a giant black hole that had already swallowed the star's twin; at its present rate of speed, the star will eventually leave the Milky Way …— Bill Armstrong
— called also Magellanic Cloud
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Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
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The first known use of Small Magellanic Cloud was in 1897
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