          APOD: 2018 May 16 - Rotation of the Large Magellanic Cloud

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                  2018 May 16
                                      [2]
                    Rotation of the Large Magellanic Cloud
          Image Credit & Licence [3] : ESA [4] , Gaia [5] , DPAC [6]

Explanation: This image is not blurry. It shows in clear detail that the
largest satellite galaxy to our Milky Way, the Large Cloud of Magellan [7]
(LMC), rotates. First determined [8]  with Hubble [9] , the rotation of the
LMC is presented here with fine data from the Sun-orbiting Gaia [10]
satellite. Gaia [11] measures the positions of stars so accurately that
subsequent measurements can reveal slight proper motion [12] s of stars not
previously detectable. The featured image [13]  shows, effectively,
exaggerated star trails [14]  for millions of faint LMC stars [15] .
Inspection of the image [16]  also shows the center of the clockwise rotation
[17] : near the top of the LMC's central bar. The LMC, prominent [18]  in
southern skies, is a small spiral [19] galaxy that has been distorted by
encounters with the greater Milky Way Galaxy [20]  and the lesser Small
Magellanic Cloud [21]  (SMC).

Open Science: Browse 1,600+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code Library [22]

                      Tomorrow's picture: open space [23]

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [35] (MTU [36] ) & Jerry Bonnell [37]
                                  (UMCP [38] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [39] .
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              A service of: ASD [41]  at NASA [42]  / GSFC [43]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [44]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1805/LmcRotation_Gaia_1000.jpg
  [3] https://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/ESA_Multimedia/Copyright_Notice_Images
  [4] http://www.esa.int/
  [5] https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/home
  [6] https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium
  [7] ap150827.html
  [8] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014ApJ...781..121V
  [9] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html
  [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_(spacecraft)
  [11] http://sci.esa.int/gaia/28820-summary/
  [12] http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/Unit1/motions.html
  [13]
https://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2018/04/
Rotation_of_the_Large_Magellanic_Cloud
  [14] ap180208.html
  [15] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016ApJ...832L..23V
  [16]
https://img00.deviantart.net/5b38/i/2015/123/d/4/
inspecting_the_book__by_chaosfive_55-d8s2kyo.jpg
  [17] https://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/clockwise-counterclockwise.html
  [18] ap161013.html
  [19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magellanic_spiral
  [20] https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/milkyway1.html
  [21] ap100903.html
  [22] http://ascl.net/code/all
  [23] ap180517.html
  [24] ap180515.html
  [25] archivepix.html
  [26] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [27] lib/aptree.html
  [28] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [29] calendar/allyears.html
  [30] /apod.rss
  [31] lib/edlinks.html
  [32] lib/about_apod.html
  [33] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180516
  [34] ap180517.html
  [35] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [36] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [37] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [38] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [39] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [40] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [41] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [42] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [43] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [44] http://www.mtu.edu/
