The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) Is Being Slowly Destroyed

Who said that galaxies don’t have their quarrels like we humans do? The difference is that in the case of galaxies, fights cause much more destructive events. Fresh observations coming from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission have uncovered a cosmic drama unfolding near our own Milky Way galaxy. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a neighboring galaxy, is exerting its gravitational influence on the smaller Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) in a pretty destructive way, actively disturbing the structure of its smaller neighbor.

The new discovery adds a compelling chapter to astronomers’ understanding of galaxy behavior and dynamics. The new observations tell us that the interaction between the two galaxies is more intense and complex than previously believed, which means that scientists might have to rethink traditional assumptions about how galaxies evolve and interact with one another over time.

700 massive stars were observed

Scientists observed hundreds of stars before jumping to conclusions. SMC is being torn apart by its larger galactic neighbor, which is pretty dramatic. But unfortunately, the Universe doesn’t seem to care about dramas.

Kengo Tachihara, who’s an astronomer at Nagoya University in Japan, explained:

When we first got this result, we suspected that there might be an error in our method of analysis,

However, upon closer examination, the results are indisputable, and we were surprised.

The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are two of the Milky Way’s closest galactic neighbors, visible mainly from the Southern Hemisphere. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is an irregular dwarf galaxy located very far away from Earth – 163,000 light-years, to be more precise. It’s the fourth-largest galaxy in our Local Group and home to spectacular features such as the Tarantula Nebula, a portion of space that’s very active when it comes to producing new stars. The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) lies about 200,000 light-years away and is even smaller. Both galaxies are believed to be satellites of our Milky Way galaxy and are connected by a stream of gas known as the Magellanic Bridge.

The new study was published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series.

Cristian Antonescu
Cristian is in love with technology, as many of us are. He has a vast experience as a content writer in the field. He's mainly involved in the hardware and gaming area, as he covers the latest news regarding smartphones, laptops, PC components, and video games.