Astronomers call for the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds to be renamed amid claims their namesake has a ‘violent colonialist legacy’

Astronomers say the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds should be retitled because of their namesake’s “violent colonialist legacy.”

The dwarf galaxies, visible to the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere, have been known for more than 1,000 years after being spotted by indigenous peoples in South America, Australia and Africa.

But they are named after the 16th-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who claimed to have discovered them with his crew during his first circumnavigation of the world between 1519 and 1522.

However, this is not well received by a group of astronomers in the US.

Mia de los Reyes, an assistant professor of astronomy at Amherst College, Massachusetts, labeled Magellan “a colonizer, a slaver and a murderer.”

Defiled? Astronomers say the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds should be retitled due to their namesake’s ‘violent colonialist legacy’

MAGELLANIC CLOUDS: SATELLITE GALAXIES FOR THE MILKY WAY

The Magellanic Clouds can be seen with the naked eye in the night sky and have been observed by ancient cultures for thousands of years.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is a relatively close distance of 160,000 light-years from us, while the Small Magellanic Cloud is about 200,000 light-years away.

They orbit the Milky Way once every 1,500 million years and each other once every 900 million years.

Until recently, these were the closest known galaxies to the Milky Way, when the dwarf galaxies Sagittarius and Canis Major were discovered and found to be even closer.

She added that he ‘not an astronomer,” nor was he the first to discover the galaxies, because indigenous peoples “had names and legends for these systems that predated Magellan by thousands of years.”

Professor de los Reyes said she and “a coalition of astronomers” were calling on the scientific community to rename the clouds, “as well as other astronomical objects, institutions and facilities that bear his name.”

A lunar crater, a crater on Mars, NASA’s Magellan spacecraft, the twin Magellan telescopes in Chile and the next-generation telescope currently under construction – called the Giant Magellan Telescope – are all named after the Portuguese explorer.

“I and many other astronomers believe that astronomical objects and facilities should not be named after Magellan, or anyone else with a violent colonialist legacy,” Professor de los Reyes wrote in the paper Journal of the American Physical Society.

She said the explorer murdered, enslaved and burned the homes of indigenous people during his circumnavigation, while also placing iron handcuffs on the “youngest and best-proportioned men” in what is now Argentina.

About the Magellanic Clouds, Professor de los Reyes added that “the beauty of these stellar objects is obscured by their names.”

She suggested changing the “m” in Magellan’s LMC and SMC to something like “meridional,” meaning “of or relating to the Southern Hemisphere.”

Another alternative, the professor added, would be to use “Milky” because of the clouds’ association with the Milky Way.

But not everyone agrees that the names of the dwarf galaxies should be changed.

A number of X users criticized the plea, calling it “#woke astronomy.”

Namesake: They are named after the 16th century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who claimed to have discovered them with his crew during his first circumnavigation of the world between 1519 and 1522

The Large Magellanic Cloud (pictured) is 160,000 light-years away, while the Small Magellanic Cloud is about 200,000 light-years away

Bob Blackman, the Conservative MP for Harrow East, also said it was ‘absolute nonsense’ to call for a name change for the galaxies.

“We can all look back on the involvement of different people in the slave trade, but the reality is that if you start renaming everything that everyone was involved in, you’re not left with much.” he told the Telegraph.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is 160,000 light-years away from us, while the Small Magellanic Cloud is about 200,000 light-years away.

They orbit the Milky Way once every 1,500 million years and each other once every 900 million years.

The very first recorded mention of the Large Magellanic Cloud was by the Persian astronomer Shirazi, in his Book of Fixed Stars around 964 AD.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT BLUE SUPERGIANTS?

There are many different types of stars that astronomers study.

Some live long and prosper, while others are born on the fast path.

These live a relatively short stellar life and die explosively after just a few tens of millions of years.

Blue supergiants belong to the second group. They are scattered across the night sky.

The bright star Rigel in Orion is one, for example, and there are collections of them at the heart of massive star-forming regions such as the cluster R136 in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Blue supergiants are born huge.

Most are at least ten times the mass of the Sun, and many are even more massive behemoths. The most massive ones can make 100 suns (or more!).

A star that big needs a lot of fuel to stay bright. Hydrogen is the main nuclear fuel for all stars.

When they run out of hydrogen, they start using helium in their cores, causing the star to burn hotter and brighter.

The resulting heat and pressure in the core causes the star to swell.

At that point, the star is nearing the end of its life and will soon experience a supernova event.

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