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| The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is the second nearest galaxy to the Milky Way, (the LMC being the nearest) and is at the distance of about 240,000 light years, quite close enough for it to be resolved into individual stars on this colour picture made from plates taken on the UK Schmidt Telescope. The shape of the SMC defies description and it is therefore classified as an 'irregular' galaxy. However, since galaxies show a strong tendency to be symmetrical and irregulars are rather rare we could be seeing first hand evidence of its recent tidal disruption by the combined effects of both our Galaxy and the LMC. Since the SMC is the least massive of the three it is the most likely member of this interacting trio to be seriously distorted by the encounter. The large globular cluster is 47 Tucanae. |