Nov 1 2006
From The Space Library
JAXA released the most accurate images yet taken of the Large Magellanic Clouds (LMC), pictures that had the potential to provide important new information about the formation of stars and galaxies. Collectively known as the Magellanic Clouds (MC), the LMC and the Small Magellanic Clouds (SMC) are galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. Because of the slow, active star formation in the two galaxies, astronomers regard them as excellent sites for studying the evolution of galaxies and stars. JAXA’s Akari satellite, also known as Astro-F, had captured multiple-wavelength images of the LMC as part of its mission to create images of the entire sky. The Akari images revealed stars forming within dust and gas clouds, numerous older stars outside of those clouds, and a distinct spindle-shaped cluster of stars in one area of the LMC. According to JAXA, the images of stars at different stages of their life cycles would help scientists study stellar evolution.
JAXA, “The Quest To Unravel the Mysteries of Galaxy Formation: Infrared Images of the Large Magellanic Cloud,” press release, 1 November 2006, http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2006/11/20061101_akari_e.html (accessed 27 April 2010).
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