The Magellanic Clouds are two irregular, dwarf galaxies. They do not have a regular shape, and only have a few billion stars. The Magellanic Clouds can only be seen from the southern hemisphere. They orbit the Milky Way galaxy. They, along with the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxy, are part of the Local Group of over 50 galaxies. The two clouds are known as the:
The first written record of the Magellanic Clouds was by the Persian astronomer Al Sufi. In 964 he wrote the "Book of Fixed Stars". He called the Large Magellanic Cloud "al-Bakr" (the Sheep) "of the southern Arabs". He wrote that the Cloud could not be seen from northern Arabia and Baghdad, but could be seen at the strait of Bab el Mandeb (12°15' N). This is the southernmost point of Arabia.
The first Europeans to see the Clouds were Italian explorers Peter Martyr d'Anghiera and Andrea Corsali at the end of the 15th century. Antonio Pigafetta also saw them, when he went with Ferdinand Magellan on his circumnavigation of the world in 1519-1522. However, naming the clouds after Magellan did not become widespread until much later. In Bayer's 1661 book, "Uranometria", they are called "nubecula major" and "nubecula minor". In the 1756 star map by French astronomer Lacaille, they are called "le Grand Nuage" and "le Petit Nuage" ("the Large Cloud" and "the Small Cloud").
The Clouds can be easily seen without the use of a telescope. They look like separate pieces of the Milky Way. About 21° apart in the night sky, the real distance between them is about 75,000 light-years. They were long thought to be the closest galaxies to the Milky Way. The Canis Major Galaxy, discovered in 2003, is now thought to be our closest galaxy.
The LMC is about 160,000 light years away, while the SMC is about 200,000. The LMC is about 14,000 light years in diameter, and the SMC about 7,000. For comparison, the Milky Way is about 170,000-200,000 light years across.
Scientists believe that the shape of Magellanic Clouds has been caused by tidal interaction with the Milky Way as they travel close to it. Streams of neutral hydrogen connect them to the Milky Way and to each other. Both Clouds look like they were once spiral in shape. Their gravity has affected the Milky Way as well, distorting the outer parts of the galaxy's disc shape.
They have a different structure and lower mass than our galaxy. There are two other big differences. First, they are gas-rich; they have more hydrogen and helium compared to the Milky Way. They are also more metal-poor than the Milky Way. The youngest stars in the LMC and SMC have less than half the amount of other elements. Both are noted for their nebulae and larger numbers of young stars. Like our own Galaxy their stars range from the very young to the very old, which shows the Clouds have a long history.
A supernova, SN 1987A, in the Large Magellanic Cloud was the brightest object seen from Earth in over four centuries.
In 2010, a French scientist said that the clouds may have been ejected from a collision that formed the Andromeda Galaxy six billion years ago. However most astronomers believe the Magellanic Clouds were made in the same process that formed our Milky Way Galaxy.
New research suggests that the SMC may in fact be split in two. A smaller part may hidden about 30,000 light years behind the SMC. This could have happened with the LMC splitting the SMC, and that the two sections are still moving apart. This smaller section is being called the Mini Magellanic Cloud.
Christmas Who?
"Christmas Who?" (also known as "The SpongeBob Christmas Special") is the 28 episode of the second season of "SpongeBob SquarePants". The special received positive feedback. A reviewer on Reviewstream.com calls it "a great story of the holiday spirit". The special currently ranks a high 9.1 out of 10 on TV.com.
SpongeBob is sneaking up to Sandy's tree dome to perform his new karate move, and sees Sandy lighting up her tree to look like a Christmas tree. SpongeBob, mistaking the lights for fire, freaks out and runs in and splashes water on Sandy. Sandy realizes that SpongeBob never seen a Christmas tree before, and does not know what the holiday is. While learning of the holiday and its activities, SpongeBob begins to spread the joy throughout the city of Bikini Bottom. He tells everyone that Santa Claus will give you presents if you write him letters.
While everyone decorates and writes letters to Santa, Squidward refuses to believe in Santa and all the Christmas cheer. On Christmas Eve, everyone waits outside singing for Santa, while Squidward goes to sleep. The next morning, it turns out Santa never came, and soon, everyone becomes angry with SpongeBob. After everyone has left, SpongeBob becomes heartbroken. His pain is only made worse when Squidward comes out and makes fun of him. SpongeBob gives Squidward a present that he would have given him so he would not feel left out if Santa came. Squidward unwraps the present to find a carved wooden clarinet, hand-made by SpongeBob. He becomes very happy, and becomes regretful of his actions.
When SpongeBob begins taking the lights off of his home, Squidward soon appears dressed as Santa Claus. Santa informs SpongeBob that he brought the holiday to Bikini Bottom by just spreading the word, which makes SpongeBob faint. Squidward gives all the fish his belongings to make SpongeBob and the people happy.
When it's all over, Squidward has nothing left and takes off the suit. SpongeBob then tells him everything he missed. That's when Squidward finds a note at his doorstep from Santa. Squidward then looks up to see the real Santa in his sleigh flying out of Bikini Bottom, laughing with joy.
Graveyard Shift
"Graveyard Shift" is the 36 episode of the second season of "SpongeBob SquarePants". Reviewstream had given a positive feedback, stating that it is a "funny episode," although stating that "it might frighten younger viewers." A DVD Verdict critic also stated the episode to be one of his favorites, stating that it had a "funny dialogue." DVD Talk also gave a positive score.
The Krusty Krab closes, and Squidward is excited, but Mr. Krabs realises that more profit would be gained if it was open 24 hours a day, so he does that. SpongeBob is really excited, while Squidward is extremely annoyed. Squidward scares SpongeBob with tales of the hash-slinging slasher. According to Squidward, he was a frycook at the Krusty Krab many years ago. When he was making Krabby Patties, he accidentally cut off his own hand, and later replaced it with a rusty spatula. He was run over by a bus, and fired at his funeral. Every Tuesday night, his ghost comes to the place and haunts it.
There are three signs of his arrival, which are:
Later that night, everything that Squidward says actually happens. He and SpongeBob are really scared, until they find out that the so-called hash-slinging slasher is actually a person who wants a job application, and hung up on the phone because he was nervous.
Sailor Mouth
"Sailor Mouth" is the 38th episode of the second season of "SpongeBob SquarePants". The episode was watched by 8.7 million viewers. Erik Wiese, a member of the "SpongeBob SquarePants" crew, stated that "Sailor Mouth" was one of his favorite episodes because of its random and satirical nature, saying "Sometimes SpongeBob just catches me off-guard."