The Small Magellanic Cloud is a galaxy of the type known as Magellanic spirals, showing a generally spiral form, but heavily disrupted. In the case of the SMC, this deformation is caused by the proximity of the Milky Way Galaxy, and potentially also by interaction with the Large Magellanic Cloud in the distant past.
The Small Magellanic Cloud has been deformed over the ages, but some semblance of its original spiral shape can still be glimpsed. The bright orb of stars in the far west of this image is 47 Tucanae, a globular cluster about fourteen thousand light years from the Sun, but this still places it in the near foreground by comparison with the distant Magellanic Cloud beyond. Imagery provided by Aladin sky atlas
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