Editing Large Magellanic Cloud (section)

==History of observation==
[[File:Cloaked in red.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Small part of the Large Magellanic Cloud<ref>{{cite news |title=Cloaked in red |url=http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1408a/ |access-date=12 March 2014 |newspaper=ESA / HUBBLE |date=24 February 2014}}</ref>]]
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 [[Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world|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.<ref name="obspm" >{{cite web | title=Observatoire de Paris (Abd-al-Rahman Al Sufi) | url=http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/Bios/alsufi.html | access-date=2007-04-19 }}</ref><ref name="obspm2" >{{cite web | title=Observatoire de Paris (LMC) | url=http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/ngc/lmc.html | access-date=2007-04-19 }}</ref> However, this seems to be a misunderstanding of a reference to some stars south of [[Canopus]] which he admits he had not seen.<ref>Hafez, Ihsan; Stephenson, Richard; Orchiston, Wayne (2011), [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319183952_Abdul-Rahman_al-Sufi_and_his_Book_of_the_Fixed_Stars ''Abdul-Rahman al-Sufi and his Book of the Fixed Stars''], pp. 121–138, {{ISBN|9781441981615}}, retrieved November 13, 2019</ref><ref name="ridpath">{{cite book | last= Ridpath
 | first= Ian | title= Star Tales – al-Sufi's nebulae | publisher= Online edition | url=http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/alsufi.html#nebulae | access-date=2021-09-15}}</ref>

The first confirmed recorded observation was in 1503–1504 by [[Amerigo Vespucci]] in a letter about his third voyage. He mentioned "three Canopes{{sic}}, two bright and one obscure"; "bright" refers to the two [[Magellanic Clouds]], and "obscure" refers to the [[Coalsack]].<ref name="obspm3" >{{cite web | title=Observatoire de Paris (Amerigo Vespucci) | url=http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/Bios/vespucci.html | access-date=2007-04-19 }}</ref>
[[File:Dorado_IAU.svg|thumb|left|Constellation of [[Dorado]]: the LMC is the green circle at the south (bottom) of picture]]

[[Ferdinand Magellan]] sighted the LMC on his voyage in 1519 and his writings brought it into common [[Western world|Western]] knowledge. The galaxy now bears his name.<ref name="obspm2"/>
The galaxy and southern end of Dorado are in the current epoch at opposition on about 5&nbsp;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 [[28th parallel south|28° south]], such as most of Australia and South Africa, the galaxy is always sufficiently above the horizon to be considered properly [[circumpolar star|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]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Press release: Magellanic Clouds May Be Just Passing Through |url=https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2007-02 |publisher=Harvard University |date=January 9, 2007}}</ref>

Astronomers discovered a new black hole inside the Large Magellanic Cloud in November 2021 using the [[Very Large Telescope|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.<ref>{{cite journal |bibcode=2022MNRAS.511.2914S |title=A black hole detected in the young massive LMC cluster NGC 1850 |last1=Saracino |first1=S. |last2=Kamann |first2=S. |last3=Guarcello |first3=M. G. |last4=Usher |first4=C. |last5=Bastian |first5=N. |last6=Cabrera-Ziri |first6=I. |last7=Gieles |first7=M. |last8=Dreizler |first8=S. |last9=Da Costa |first9=G. S. |last10=Husser |first10=T. -O. |last11=Hénault-Brunet |first11=V. |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |date=2022 |volume=511 |issue=2 |page=2914 |doi=10.1093/mnras/stab3159 |doi-access=free |arxiv=2111.06506 }}</ref>

In March 2025, the Center for Astrophysics announced the discovery of strong evidence for the closest supermassive black hole outside of the Milky Way galaxy. This supermassive black hole is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is considered to be one of the nearest galactic neighbors to our own.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Runaway Stars Reveal Hidden Black Hole In Milky Way's Nearest Neighbor {{!}} Center for Astrophysics {{!}} Harvard & Smithsonian |url=https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/runaway-stars-reveal-hidden-black-hole-milky-ways-nearest-neighbor |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=www.cfa.harvard.edu}}</ref>