Milky WayΓÇÖs satellite galaxies; the mutual gravitational attraction between the two indicates that the cloud probably orbits around the Milky Way. Yet this does not imply that the LMC is a small galaxy. At about half the Milky WayΓÇÖs size, and with about 10 percent of its mass, it is much larger than most other galaxies in our Local Group.
Since the Large Magellanic Cloud is so close to us, astronomers can study it in greater detail than other galaxies. Millions of stars are easily observed, and hundreds of clusters and nebulae have been catalogued.
The dominant feature of this visible light photograph is the central bar containing the galaxyΓÇÖs densest concentration of stars. The points that look like bright stars are in fact clusters, each containing
