“This remarkable galaxy is an astronomical treasure-house…” Robert Burnham Jr.

The Large Magellanic Cloud contains an embarrassment of riches, and over the years I had visited and revisited, all its NGC objects, as well as rambling around the congestion, tracking down Henize nebulae, Shapley-Lindsey clusters, and a multitude of other objects. But I long wanted to sort out for myself the supergiant shells, the superbubbles, the large complexes, the LH OB Associations, in a way that would help me verify and contextualize what I was seeing… but it was always a project for next summer…

It wasn’t until I was here – in the Kalahari with my 16″ Dobsonian, and the extraordinary privilege of pristine skies and what seems like endless time – that I was able to do just that. It started out as that long-awaited next-summer’s project, but it quickly grew into a passion that stretched across a number of summers, and then eventually into a website that could be shared with anyone else wanting to explore this most wonderful galaxy! And my greatest hope is that all of us who are in thrall of the Large Magellanic Cloud contribute to our collective understanding, appreciation, and thirst for unravelling the mysteries of this very big, very complicated, and very contradictory place.

The Cloud is divided into 4 regions: Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, with the bar also being a “region”. Four regions (and the bar) for such a congested galaxy suggests horribly crowded star charts. However, the locations of the nine supergiant shells, sixteen superbubbles and large Henize and Lucke-Hodge complexes (which are jam-packed with objects) are indicated on the charts with links. Not only does this avoid congestion on the regions’ maps, but it allows us to explore those structures in their entirety.

Finding objects is relatively easy: the regions, 30 Doradus, supergiant shells, superbubbles, etc. are all easy reached from the main navigation bar. Other objects, such as SNRs, blobs, bubbles, etc., can be found via the “Database” tab. 

The database contains all the objects in this guide. Each of the object types contains a brief introductory note and a data table. The data tables provide all the basic data, along with any other data pertinent to the type. They also include where each object is located, thus making it easier to find them (on this website and in the Cloud!)

Each region, supergiant shell, superbubble, and large Henize/LH Associations complex has its own annotated image chart, as do the regions of the bar, and they all have a master chart to show their locations in the Cloud. They are a great aid to finding and identifying the objects. It can be tough trying to figure out what’s what in the crowded fields! With many of the smaller and/or fainter objects in the Cloud, the difficulty is not in finding the location of an object, it is in the identification when it lies among a number of similar-looking objects, some of which are not plotted on a chart. The photographic maps help resolve this observing dilemma! (Not only is it nice to know you are actually looking at what you want to be looking at, but it also helps to curb the unruly eye/brain/imagination problem that can plague many of us!)

Every object is accompanied by an image which will also help you confirm your observations. All the images are oriented with north up and west to the right. The images are all DSS images, unless otherwise credited.

All the observations were made with my 16″ Dobsonian.

The observation notes for the complex objects and regions are composites, based on many observations separated by lengths of time. Indeed, my best observing tool here in the Kalahari is time. As we all know, the longer (and more often) you look, the more you see. With no sense of time or inclement weather chasing me down, I was able to observe an object as many times as I wanted, not only over many different nights but indeed, different months. What a difference it made!

As John Herschel wrote in his book, Results of Astronomical Observations made during the years 1834, 5, 6, 7, 8 at the Cape of Good Hope, “It will of course be readily understood that every great differences will occur in the descriptions of one and the same nebula taken on different nights, and under difference atmospheric circumstances, as well as in different states of the mirror and the eye: nor will it at all startle one accustomed to the observation of nebulae to see such an object described at one time as F; S; R (faint small, round), and at another as B; pL; pmE; r (bright; pretty large; pretty much extended; resolvable), etc. It is from a collection of all these descriptions that the true or final description has to be made out, in doing which it has to be recollected that the higher observed degrees of brightness, size and extension are to be preferred in general to the lower ones, since atmospheric and other deteriorating causes always act in derogation of these qualities.”

(2) Transparency:

Good transparency is the difference maker in observing the Cloud. Under supremely transparent skies, it was as if I was using a larger telescope because of the amount of detail revealed in complex objects that was completely invisible under skies just as dark, but with poor transparency. The nights the transparency was down, I would adjust my observing programme for the night accordingly. 

Steve has observed a vast number of LMC objects over the course of his numerous visits to the southern hemisphere. I am immensely grateful to him for sharing his observing notes on this website. His LMC body of work is a fantastic addition to the website for two reasons:

Firstly, most of his meticulous observations have been made with large aperture telescopes, which makes this a tremendous resource for the owners of large Dobs.

Secondly, each object is accompanied by the most extensive notes on the object’s historical data. Fascinating reading, and an enormously valuable addition to the website.

I will post the pages on which his observations can be found as we complete them. You can find this on the “Recent Updates” tab.

Steve’s Adventures in Deep Space

Steve’s Wikipedia page

Home page images: Top image: Large Magellanic Cloud, copyright and credit Robert Gendler http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/  Thank you for allowing me to use your beautiful image! Second image: Tarantula Nebula credit ESO. N49, credit ESA/Hubble. N55, credit ESO/Hubble

Slider images: Credit Hubble; ESA; ESO; NASA

Supergiant Shells pages image: The magnificent Large Magellanic Cloud image that required a total of 1,060 hours of exposure time in both broadband and narrowband filters. Credit & Copyright: Team Ciel Austral – J. C. Canonne, N. Outters, P. Bernhard, D. Chaplain, L. Bourgon. Thank you for allowing to to use your beautiful image! www.cielaustral.com

Superbubbles, N and LH Complexes: image as on home page; copyright and credit Robert Gendler.

All DSS (Digital Sky Survey) observations images and chart images:  http://archive.stsci.edu/dss/acknowledging.html

All other images are credited and acknowledged when used. Please let me know if I have inadvertently missed one.

If you would like to use my written material on your website, please acknowledge my contribution by citing me by name as the source, and including a link to this website. Please don’t just swipe my stuff.

Copyright acknowledgement creates a fair and respectful environment for the sharing of knowledge and creative endeavour, where everyone’s contributions are recognised, valued, and protected.