(1480-1521) Portuguese navigator. In 1519 he set sail in the Victoria from Seville with the intention of reaching the East Indies by a westerly route. He sailed through the Strait of Magellan at the tip of South America, crossed an ocean he named the Pacific, and in 1521 reached the Philippines, where he was killed in a battle with the islanders. His companions returned to Seville 1522, completing the voyage under del Cano.

Množina: Magellans

A Web directory. Named for the Portuguese explorer, Magellan reviews and rates all Web sites it lists. Published by the McKinley Group, Magellan is now owned by Excite, Inc.

Množina: Magellans

NASA space probe to Venus, launched May 1989; it went into orbit around Venus Aug 1990 to make a detailed map of the planet by radar. It revealed volcanoes, meteorite craters, and fold mountains on the planet's surface. Magellan mapped 98% of Venus.
In Oct 1994 Magellan was instructed to self-destruct by entering the atmosphere around Venus where it burned up.

Množina: Magellanic Clouds

Either of two galaxies orbiting the Milky Way; visible near the south celestial pole.
Either of the two small galaxies that appear as conspicuous patches of light near the south celestial pole and are companions to the Milky Way galaxy

Množina: Magellanic Clouds

In astronomy, the two galaxies nearest to our own galaxy. They are irregularly shaped, and appear as detached parts of the Milky Way, in the southern constellations Dorado and Tucana.
The Large Magellanic Cloud is 169,000 light-years from Earth, and about a third the diameter of our galaxy; the Small Magellanic Cloud, 180,000 light-years away, is about a fifth the diameter of our galaxy. They are named for the navigator Ferdinand Magellan, who first described them.

Množina: Magellanic penguins

A penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) of the southern tip of South America and surrounding islands that has a pink mark above the eyes and two broad black bands on the neck and upper chest