NASA astronaut Don Pettit has captured an incredible image of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds while aboard the International Space Station, 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean. The two dwarf satellite galaxies are part of the Milky Way’s Local Group and can only be seen in the night sky from the Southern Hemisphere or from space.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is located at 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa, while the Small Magellanic Cloud resides 200,000 light-years away in the constellations Tucana and Hydrus. This image was taken using a long-exposure technique from a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docked to the ISS.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the Milky Way’s irregular satellite galaxies, characterized by its distorted shape. It contains billions of stars and has hosted some remarkable astronomical observations, including the 1987 supernova spotted with the naked eye. In recent times, astronomers have discovered high-quality images of a star outside our galaxy, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Astronaut Pettit, who is NASA’s oldest active astronaut at 69 years old, has been taking long-exposure images and posting them on X since his fourth spaceflight. This image marks one of several published by NASA featuring the Magellanic Clouds and joins a growing collection of cosmic captures by Pettit.
The Magellanic Clouds are visible in the night sky between December and April from the Southern Hemisphere, making this an incredible opportunity for stargazers to witness these celestial wonders up close.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/space-photo-of-the-week-astronaut-spots-2-nearby-galaxies-from-spacex-capsule