Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC / Nubecula Major)
J2000 coordinates, eclipsing-binary distance (163,000 ly), magnitude 0.13, Tarantula Nebula (30 Doradus), SN 1987A, and observing guide for the LMC.
Provenance-Backed Scientific Measurements
Every measurement below preserves its unit, uncertainty interval, observational method, reference epoch, quality status, and primary catalog source. See Uncertainty & Provenance for how competing measurements are handled.
| Parameter | Value | Uncertainty | Method & Epoch | Quality Status | Source Archive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integrated visual magnitude (V) | 0.13 mag | ± 0.05 mag | All-sky wide-field photoelectric & Gaia integrated photometry | definitive | ESA Gaia Archive — Data Release 3 |
| Distance in light-years | 162980 ly | ± 1660 ly | 20 late-type detached eclipsing binaries (49.59 ± 0.54 kpc — Pietrzyński et al. 2019) | definitive | SH0ES Local Distance Ladder Hubble Constant |
| Apparent major axis | 645 arcmin | ± 15 arcmin | Optical disk diameter (10.75° × 9.17° — more than 20 full Moons wide) | definitive | SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 262.2 km/s | ± 3.4 km/s | Gaia DR3 & H I 21-cm systemic velocity | definitive | ESA Gaia Archive — Data Release 3 |
J2000 Equatorial Sky Chart & Culmination Altitude
The chart below plots Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC / PGC 17223) at RA 05h 23m 34.60s, Dec -69° 45′ 22.0″ within Dorado, alongside peak meridian transit altitudes for 40°N and 30°S observers. Use the RA/Dec Coordinate Converter to compute exact culmination altitude for your latitude.
Astrophysical Context & Structure
Known to Indigenous peoples of the Southern Hemisphere for millennia, recorded by Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi in 964 CE, and brought to European attention during Ferdinand Magellan's 1519–1522 circumnavigation, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is the brightest external galaxy in Earth's sky at visual magnitude 0.13. Spanning 10.8 × 9.2 degrees across the border of Dorado and Mensa at a distance of just 162,980 light-years (49.59 kiloparsecs), the LMC is the fourth-largest member of the Local Group (~32,000 light-years in physical diameter, with a total halo mass of ~1.5 × 10^11 M☉) and the prototype of 'Magellanic spiral' (SBm) galaxies possessing an off-center stellar bar and a single dominant spiral arm.
In modern astrophysics, the LMC is humanity's premier laboratory for stellar evolution and cosmology. Thousands of Cepheid variable stars in the LMC anchor the SH0ES Hubble-constant distance ladder, while its northeastern flank hosts 30 Doradus (NGC 2070, the Tarantula Nebula)—the most violent starburst complex in the entire Local Group, spanning nearly 1,000 light-years and powered by the central super-cluster R136 containing stars up to 200–250 solar masses.
On February 23, 1987, a blue supergiant star (Sanduleak −69° 202) on the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula exploded as Supernova 1987A, reaching naked-eye magnitude 2.9 as the brightest supernova seen from Earth since Kepler's Supernova of 1604 and producing a burst of 24 neutrinos detected simultaneously in underground laboratories on Earth.
Practical Visual Observing Guide
- Circumpolar from almost the entire Southern Hemisphere (south of 20°S) and never rises north of +20°N; to the unaided eye it looks like a detached, luminous 10°-wide piece of the Milky Way.
- In 7×50 or 10×50 binoculars, sweeping across the LMC's central bar resolves dozens of NGC star clusters, supernova remnants, and glowing emission nebulae inside another galaxy.
- Even a 60–100 mm telescope resolves the spider-like filaments of the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070, visible to the naked eye at mag 4.0!) alongside the double cluster NGC 1850 and the giant H II complex N44.
Catalog Cross-Identifications & Aliases
Common Aliases: LMC · Nubecula Major · PGC 17223 · ESO 56-G 115
| Catalog Authority | Identifier |
|---|---|
| SIMBAD | NAME LMC |
| WIKIDATA | Q49957 |
Related Objects, Comparisons & Guides
Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC / NGC 292)
J2000 coordinates, eclipsing-binary distance (203,000 ly), magnitude 2.18, Henrietta Leavitt Cepheid law, Magellanic Bridge, and SMC observing guide.
Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31 / NGC 224)
Coordinates, Cepheid/TRGB distance (765 kpc / 2.50 Mly), magnitude 3.44, blueshift (−300 km/s), and observing guide for Andromeda (M31).
Centaurus A (NGC 5128 Active Radio Galaxy)
J2000 coordinates, TRGB/Cepheid distance (12.4 Mly), magnitude 6.84, warped dust lane, relativistic radio lobes, and observing guide for Centaurus A.
Measurement Uncertainty & Optics in Astronomy
How random vs systematic errors, asymmetric error bars, model dependencies, and optical aperture/exit-pupil limits shape astronomical measurements.
Apparent vs Absolute Magnitude Explained
Understand the logarithmic Pogson astronomical magnitude scale, apparent visual magnitude (m), absolute magnitude (M at 10 parsecs), and bolometric corrections.
Scientific Sources & Dataset Provenance
- SH0ES Local Distance Ladder Hubble Constant (2022 Baseline Cepheid + SN Ia): Riess, A. G., et al. 2022, ApJL, 934, L7 (A Comprehensive Measurement of the Local Value of the Hubble Constant) — SH0ES Collaboration (HST / JWST)
- ESA Gaia Archive — Data Release 3 (DR3 (2022-06-13)): Gaia Collaboration, Vallenari, A., et al. 2023, A&A, 674, A1 (Gaia Data Release 3) — European Space Agency / Gaia DPAC
- SIMBAD Astronomical Database (CDS) (2026-10 release): Wenger, M., et al. 2000, A&AS, 143, 9 (The SIMBAD astronomical database) — Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg