Posted on 07/23/2026 12:26:15 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: Have you ever seen another galaxy with your own eyes? The featured image shows the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of the closest neighbors of our Milky Way. If you are anywhere south of latitude 20° N (but the further south, the better), you can see it with the unaided eye if you go to a dark sky location, away from big cities and light polution. It is a dwarf irregular galaxy about 163,000 light-years away, and a member of our Local Group of galaxies. Despite being small, with a total mass approximately equivalent to 10% - 20% of the mass of the Milky Way, the LMC is very actively forming stars. This is likely due in part to the gravitational push and pull of tides caused by the Milky Way on the LMC. Some astronomers have predicted that it will collide with the Milky Way in in about 2 billion years.
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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
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I'm guessing there's a good chance the Lord will return long before then and the subject will be moot, as far as we're concerned anyway. Besides, scientists say the sun will become a red giant in about 1 billion years, destroying all life on earth from it's intense heat, so we wouldn't be around to see when galaxies collide 1 billion years later.
Maybe I can get the collision on pay per view.
Wow.
I’ll bet the LMC is a spectacular sight, compared to those….
Always remember it is our SUV’s and R12 refrigerant that is destroying the planet.
“What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?”
Always impressive seeing these hi res galactic images so far away yet we still might have undetected planets in our own solar system
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