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Some speculate that the LMC was once a barred spiral galaxy that was disrupted by the Milky Way, to become type Irr-I. It still contains a central bar structure, and is the fourth largest member of the Local Group, following the Milky Way, Andromeda Galaxy, and M33.
It is visible as a faint object in the night sky of the southern hemisphere, straddling the border between the constellations of Dorado and Mensa. It is named after Ferdinand Magellan, who observed it and the companion Small Magellanic Cloud in his circumnavigational voyage around the Earth. (But note that it was already mentioned around 964 by 'Abd Al-Rahman Al Sufi in his Book of Fixed StarsAbd Al-Rahman Al Sufi published his famous Book of Fixed Stars around 964, in Arabic, although the author himself was probably Persian. It was an attempt to create a synthesis of the most popular Classical work of astronomy Ptolemys Almagest with the indi.)
It is home to the Tarantula NebulaEuropean Southern Observatory. The Tarantula Nebula (also known as 30 Doradus or NGC 2070 is a diffuse nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It was originally thought to be a star, but in 1751 Abbe Lacaille recognized its nebula nature. The Tarantula Nebu, the most active starburst region in the Local Group of galaxies.