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The two Magellanic Clouds (or ''Nubeculae Magellani'') are a duo of irregular dwarf galaxies visible from the southern hemisphere, which are members of our Local Group and may be orbiting our Milky Way galaxy.〔(''Implications of recent measurements of the Milky Way rotation for the orbit of the Large Magellanic Cloud'' )〕 Because they both show signs of a bar structure, they are often reclassified as Magellanic spiral galaxies. The two galaxies are: * Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) * Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) == History == The Magellanic Clouds were known to the Polynesians and served as important navigation markers. Collectively they were known to Māori of New Zealand as ''Nga Patari-Kaihau'' or as ''Te Reporepo'' and were also used as predictors of winds. The Magellanic Clouds have been known since the first millennium in Western Asia. The first preserved mention of the Large Magellanic Cloud is by the Persian astronomer Al Sufi.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/Bios/alsufi.html )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/ngc/lmc.html )〕 In 964, in his ''Book of Fixed Stars'', he called it ''al-Bakr'' ("the Sheep") "of the southern Arabs"; he noted that the Cloud is not visible from northern Arabia and Baghdad, but can be seen at the strait of Bab el Mandeb (12°15' N), which is the southernmost point of Arabia.〔 In Europe, the Clouds were first observed by Italian explorers Peter Martyr d'Anghiera and Andrea Corsali at the end of the 15th century. Subsequently, they were reported by Antonio Pigafetta, who accompanied the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan on its circumnavigation of the world in 1519–1522.〔 However, naming the clouds after Magellan did not become widespread until much later. In Bayer's ''Uranometria'' they are designated as ''nubecula major'' and ''nubecula minor''.〔(Bayer, J., (1661) ''Uranometria'', pl. Aaa (49) ) U.S. Naval Observatory; retrieved on 2009-09-05〕 In the 1756 star map of the French astronomer Lacaille, they are designated as ''le Grand Nuage'' and ''le Petit Nuage'' ("the Large Cloud" and "the Small Cloud").〔(de Lacaille, N. L., (1756) ''Planisphere contenant les Constellations Celestes'', ''Memoires Academie Royale des Sciences'' pour 1752. ) Linda Hall Library; retrieved on 2009-09-05〕 In Sri Lanka, from ancient times, these clouds have been referred to as the ''Maha Mera Paruwathaya'' meaning "the great mountain", as they look like the peaks of a distant mountain range. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Magellanic Clouds」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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