ESA Science & Technology - Rotation of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Animated view of the motion of stars in our neighbouring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, based on data from the second release of ESA's Gaia satellite.

Measuring the velocity across the sky, or proper motion, of several million stars in this galaxy, astronomers were able to see an imprint of the stars rotating around it.

Acknowledgement: Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC); Gaia Sky; S. Jordan / T. Sagristà, Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Germany

 
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