Large Magellanic Cloud. Optical image of the irregular dwarf galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which lies around 170,000 light years from Earth, in the constellations of Dorado and Mensa. Several pink nebulae can be seen. These are starbirth regions of gas and dust which glow due to ionisation of hydrogen gas by hot young stars embedded in them. The brightest patch is the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070, lower centre), one of the largest and most powerful nebulae known. The LMC is about 50,000 light years wide. Visible in the skies of the southern hemisphere, this galaxy is part of the Local Group of galaxies that includes the Milky Way.