Baboon Nebula

This is the Baboon Nebula in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), one of two dwarf galaxies which closely orbit our Milky Way.

Like all of the outstanding features of our sky, the Small Magellanic Cloud is only observable in the southern hemisphere of Earth, the SMC being located in the constellation Tucana, the toucan.

The Small Magellanic Cloud is 210,000 light years from Earth, or two diameters of our Milky Way Galaxy. The Baboon Nebula is part of a huge star forming region of the Small Magellanic Cloud called NGC 346 (NGC = new general catalog).


The Small Magellanic Cloud is a kool place.