The Large Magellanic Cloud, an irregular galaxy.
Click on image for full size
© Loke Kun Tan (StarryScapes)
Related links:
A Matter of Scale - interactive showing the sizes of things, from very tiny to huge - from NSF
Irregular Galaxies
Irregular galaxies are appropriately named. This class includes any
galaxy which cannot be classified as either spiral or elliptical.
Thus in some sense every irregular galaxy is unique in it's
appearance. There are, however, two general types of irregulars. Irr
I galaxies are similar to spirals because they have lots of gas and
young stars. But they lack well-defined spiral structure. Irr II
galaxies look as if they have collided with another galaxy or
experienced some other violent event which may have led to their
distorted, asymmetrical shape.
If you live south of the Equator, you may be able to see two irregular type
galaxies in your night sky. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are
two very nearby irregular galaxies which are orbitting the Milky Way.
Because they are nearby and fairly bright, they can be seen with the
unaided eye.
A Matter of Scale - interactive showing the sizes of things, from very tiny to huge - from NSF
You might also be interested in:

The introduction of telescopes to the study of astronomy opened up the universe, but it took some time for astronomers to realize how vast the universe could be. Telescopes revealed that our night sky
...more
In the 1960's, the United States launched a series of satellites to look for very high energy photons, called Gamma Rays, that are produced whenever a nuclear bomb explodes. These satellites soon detected
...more
Neutron Stars are the end point of a massive star's life. When a really massive star runs out of nuclear fuel in its core the core begins to collapse under gravity. When the core collapses the entire star
...more
Spiral galaxies may remind you of pinwheels turning slowly as though in some intergalactic breeze. They are rotating disks of gas, dust and stars. Through a telescope or binoculars, the bright nucleus
...more
White Dwarfs are the remnants of stars that were massive enough to stay alive using nuclear fusion in their cores, but not massive enough to blow apart in a Type II supernova. When stars like our own sun
...more
What's in a Name: Arabic for "head of the demon" Claim to Fame: Represents Medusa's eye in Perseus. A special variable star that "winks" every 3 days. Type of Star: Blue-white Main Sequence Star, and
...more
What's in a Name: Nicknamed the "Pup" because it is the companion to Sirius, "the Dog Star" Claim to Fame: Highly compressed white dwarf remnant. Density about 50,000 times that of water. It has approximately
...more