Small Magellanic Cloud

noun

: 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

Examples of Small Magellanic Cloud in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Small Magellanic Cloud has less elements heavier than helium than the Milky Way with conditions more similar to what existed in the earliest days of the universe. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 23 Apr. 2025

Using tips from the star-tracking Gaia spacecraft, scientists examined the motions of massive stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) to find it is being ripped apart by the gravitational influence of its larger counterpart, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). —Robert Lea, Space.com, 11 Apr. 2025

At present, Han says there’s no evidence for such a massive black hole in the Small Magellanic Cloud, the LMC’s companion galaxy, located some 200,000 light years away. —Bruce Dorminey, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2025

Researchers from Kyushu University and Osaka Metropolitan University essentially documented the dance of the Small Magellanic Cloud. —Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 20 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1897, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Small Magellanic Cloud

• allowed
• aloud
• avowed
• endowed
• mcleod
• bowed
• browed
• coude
• cowed
• crowd
• dowd
• loud