The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), or Nubecula Minor, is a dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way. Classified as a dwarf irregular galaxy, the SMC has a D25 isophotal diameter of about 5.78 kiloparsecs (18,900 light-years), and contains several hundred million stars. It has a total mass of approximately 7 billion solar masses. At a distance of about 200,000 light-years, the SMC is among the nearest intergalactic neighbors of the Milky Way and is one of the most distant objects visible to the naked eye.
The SMC is visible from the entire Southern Hemisphere, but can be fully glimpsed low above the southern horizon from latitudes south of about 15° north. The galaxy is located across both the constellations of Tucana and part of Hydrus, appearing as a faint hazy patch resembling a detached piece of the Milky Way. The SMC has an average apparent diameter of about 4.2° (8 times the Moon’s) and thus covers an area of about 14 square degrees (70 times the Moon’s). Since its surface brightness is very low, this deep-sky object is best seen on clear moonless nights and away from city lights. The SMC forms a pair with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which lies 20° to the east, and like the LMC, it is a member of the Local Group. It is currently a satellite of the Milky Way, but is likely a former satellite of the LMC.
The SMC contains a central bar structure, and astronomers speculate that it was once a barred spiral galaxy that was disrupted by the Milky Way to become somewhat irregular. There is a bridge of gas connecting the Small Magellanic Cloud with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which is evidence of tidal interaction between the galaxies. The Magellanic Clouds have a common envelope of neutral hydrogen indicating they have been gravitationally bound for a long time. This bridge of gas is a star-forming site.

Telescope: Astro Physics 155EDF (TCC) f5.4
Mount: Astro Physics 1600GTO
Camera: FLI PL29050 / CFW2-7
Guider: Agena Starguide II / SBIG STi
Filters: Astrodon II 50mm LRGB

4-Panel Mosaic
Panel-1: L: 49×10 mins = 490 mins, R: 23×10 mins = 230 mins, G: 24×10 mins = 240 mins, B: 25×10 mins = 250 mins
Panel-2: L: 48×10 mins = 480 mins, R: 24×10 mins = 240 mins, G: 24×10 mins = 240 mins, B: 24×10 mins = 240 mins
Panel-3: L: 49×10 mins = 490 mins, R: 23×10 mins = 230 mins, G: 24×10 mins = 240 mins, B: 25×10 mins = 250 mins
Panel-4: L: 49×10 mins = 490 mins, R: 23×10 mins = 230 mins, G: 24×10 mins = 240 mins, B: 25×10 mins = 250 mins

Total Imaging Time: 80h 10m

Data Imaged remotely over 19 nights during September & October 2021.
Imaged from Observatorio El Sauce, Chile, in partnership with Fred Espenak.
Data acquisition & Processing by David Churchill.

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