Record-breaking faint satellite galaxy of the Milky Way discovered
Monday, November 21, 2016 - 21:11
in Astronomy & Space
Astronomers have found an extremely faint dwarf satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The satellite, named Virgo I, lies in the direction of the constellation Virgo. At the absolute magnitude of -0.8 in the optical waveband, it may well be the faintest satellite galaxy yet found. Its discovery suggests the presence of a large number of yet-undetected dwarf satellites in the halo of the Milky Way and provides important insights into galaxy formation through hierarchical assembly of dark matter.