magellanic clouds

English - English

Definition of magellanic clouds in English English dictionary

plural form of Magellanic Cloud

collectively, the pair of galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud; also sometimes includes the Magellanic Bridge and Magellanic Stream

{n} whitish clouds near the south pole which revolve like stars

Related Terms

Magellanic Cloud

Either of two irregular galaxies that are close companions of our Milky Way galaxy

Magellanic Cloud

Either of two irregular companion galaxies of the Milky Way Galaxy, named for Ferdinand Magellan, whose crew discovered them during the first voyage around the world. They share a gaseous envelope and lie about 22° apart in the sky near the southern celestial pole (see celestial sphere). They are visible to the unaided eye in the Southern Hemisphere but cannot be seen from northern latitudes. The Large Magellanic Cloud is more than 150,000 light-years from Earth; the Small Magellanic Cloud is roughly 200,000 light-years away. They are excellent laboratories for the study of the formation and evolution of stars

magellanic cloud

either of two small galaxies orbiting the Milky Way; visible near the south celestial pole

Hyphenation

magellanic Clouds

Turkish pronunciation

mäcılänîk klaudz

Pronunciation

/ˌmaʤəˈlanək ˈkloudz/ /ˌmæʤəˈlænɪk ˈklaʊdz/