Astronomers discover nearby galaxy was shattered by cosmic crash

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is one of the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbors, a compact, gas-rich galaxy that can be seen with the naked eye from the southern hemisphere. It orbits our galaxy along with its larger companion, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and all three have been interacting for hundreds of millions of years. Because of its proximity, the SMC has been studied in detail for decades, with astronomers mapping its stars, tracking its gas, and measuring its m...