An irregular satellite galaxy of the Milky Way galaxy, orbiting at a distance of 65 kiloparsecs (kpc). The SMC is small next to our galaxy, having a mass of only two billion solar masses, compared to the 200 billion solar masses of the Milky Way. A gaseous umbilical cord of neutral hydrogen, or H I, connects both the Small Magellanic Cloud and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) to our Milky Way. Both the LMC and SMC are visible only in the Southern Hemisphere.

the smaller of the two Magellanic Clouds visible from the southern hemisphere

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is an irregular-shaped galaxy in the Local Group. The irregular shape may be the result of a disturbance, perhaps a collision of two galaxies. The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is near the constellation Tucana, and is under 200,000 light-years away.