Appearing more like detached bits of the Milky Way, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are irregular dwarf galaxies thought to be orbiting the Milky Way.  Members of our Local Group, the Clouds are being pulled and distorted by the Milky Way.

The Atlas of the Universe - Richard Powell

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is about 1/10th as large as the Milky Way, and about 160,000 ly away.  It’s the fourth largest galaxy in the Local Group, and home to the Tarantula Nebula.  Visible to the unaided eye as a faint “cloud” in the southern hemisphere, it straddles the border between the constellations Dorado and Mensa.

Large Magellanic Cloud - NASA/JPL

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), at a distance of about 200,000 ly away, is one of the most distant objects visible with the unaided eye.  Seen only from the southern hemisphere and lower latitudes of the northern hemisphere, it appears as a light “hazy” patch in the constellation Tucana.  The SMC is roughly one-half the size of the LMC.

Small Magellanic Cloud - NASA/ESA, Hubble ST

In comparison with the Milky Way, the Magellanic Cloud galaxies are gas-rich and metal-poor.  Noted for vigorous stellar growth and formation, the Clouds also host ancient objects.  The LMC was the host galaxy to SN1987a.  You remember that show-stopper:

SN1987a NASA/ESA/U. Colorado, CHANDRA/HUBBLE

The Clouds share a neutral hydrogen envelope, itself active in star formation, indicating they have been bound together by gravity for a long time.  Known as astronomical treasure-houses, the Clouds have something for everybody.

You can’t go without seeing our most famous satellite galaxies together in the night sky:

Large and Small Magellanic Clouds - ESO (great enlargement)