Large Magellanic Cloud
History of observation

Both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds have been easily visible for southern nighttime observers well back into prehistory. It has been claimed that the first known written mention of the Large Magellanic Cloud was by the Persian astronomer ' Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi Shirazi (later known in Europe as "Azophi"), which he referred to as Al Bakr, the White Ox, in his Book of Fixed Stars around 964 AD. However, this seems to be a misunderstanding of a reference to some stars south of Canopus which he admits he has not seen.

The first confirmed recorded observation was in 1503–1504 by Amerigo Vespucci in a letter about his third voyage. He mentioned "three Canopes, two bright and one obscure"; "bright" refers to the two Magellanic Clouds, and "obscure" refers to the Coalsack.

Ferdinand Magellan sighted the LMC on his voyage in 1519 and his writings brought it into common Western knowledge. The galaxy now bears his name. The galaxy and southern end of Dorado are in the current epoch at opposition on about 5 December when thus visible from sunset to sunrise from equatorial points such as Ecuador, the Congos, Uganda, Kenya and Indonesia and for part of the night in nearby months. Above about 28° south, such as most of Australia and South Africa, the galaxy is always sufficiently above the horizon to be considered properly circumpolar, thus during spring and autumn the cloud is also visible much of the night, and the height of winter in June nearly coincides with closest proximity to the Sun's apparent position.

Measurements with the Hubble Space Telescope, announced in 2006, suggest the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds may be moving too quickly to be orbiting the Milky Way.

Astronomers discovered a new black hole inside the Large Magellanic Cloud in November 2021 using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. Astronomers claim its gravity is influenced by a nearby star, which is about five times the mass of the Sun.
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