NASA
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 11 February 2023: Stunning Magellanic Clouds
There are a number of satellite galaxies in the Milky Way Galaxy, but the largest is the Large Magellanic Cloud. This is what has been featured in today's NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day. The space agency shared an image representing two prominent clouds in this Chilean Atacama Desert skyscape captured on January 21. But the reality is that they actually lie beyond our Milky Way - known as the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds. These were named for the 16th-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, leader of the team that first circumnavigated planet Earth.