An international team of astronomers and astrophysicists has discovered that the Small Magellanic Cloud is not one galaxy, but two galaxies, one behind the other. Their new research was published on the preprint server arXiv. The Magellanic Clouds are known as two irregular dwarf galaxies in the southern hemisphere of the sky, called the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud. In the late 1980s, evidence emerged that the Small Magellanic Cloud was actually made up of two galaxies. In a new study, astronomers have collected even more data that supports this hypothesis. The research team began their study by analyzing data from ESA’s Gaia Space Observatory to estimate the average speed of stars in different parts of the Small Magellanic Cloud. They then used data from the Pathfinder Galaxy Australia Square Kilometer Array radio telescope to study the interstellar medium in both parts of the galaxy. They also analyzed data from his APOGEE survey obtained with the Sloan Foundation’s spectrometer and the NMSU telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. After examining the data, researchers discovered differences in the chemical composition of the two parts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, as well as differences in the speed of motion of the stars within it. They concluded that both parts have approximately the same mass and interact with the Large Magellanic Cloud. Research has revealed that the Small Magellanic Cloud is made up of two unique galaxies located approximately in front of and behind the Earth. Astronomers say this arrangement explains why it was not realized until now that the Small Magellanic Cloud is actually made up of two galaxies. The research team also measured the distances between these galaxies. The nearest galaxy is about 199,000 light-years away, and the most distant galaxy is about 215,000 light-years away.