![Title graphic for Sea and Sky's Space Gallery pages](../space-gallery/assets/images/title_space_gallery.jpg)
Image 5-17
Small Magellanic Cloud
This Hubble Space Telescope image shows one of the most dynamic and intricately detailed star-forming regions in space. It is located 210,000 light-years away in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a small companion galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. Located at the center of the region is a brilliant star cluster called NGC 346. A dramatic structure of arched, ragged filaments with a distinct ridge surrounds the cluster. The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds are diffuse, irregular galaxies that are visible to the naked eye in the southern hemisphere.
![Hubble Space Telescope image of star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud](assets/photos/space-gallery-05-17-sk09.jpg)
NASA, ESA, and A. Nota (STScI/ESA)
Solar System | Faces of Mars | Visions of Jupiter | Sights of Saturn
Best of Hubble #1 | Best of Hubble #2 | Spitzer Spectacles | Above the Earth