APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Nearby Dwarf Galaxy Leo I
Explanation: Leo I is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy in the Local Group of galaxies dominated by our Milky Way Galaxy and M31 . Leo I is thought to be the most distant of the eleven known small satellite galaxies orbiting our Milky Way Galaxy . Besides the LMC and the SMC , all Milky Way satellite galaxies are small, dim, dwarf spheroidals , including the closest galaxy - the Sagittarius Dwarf . Leo I is most distant than most of them, thought to be about 250 kpc away. Analysis of stars in Leo I show it contains many stars only about 3 billion years old - much younger than in most galaxies.
| Date | May 19, 1996 |
|---|---|
| Credit |
Credit: Anglo-Australian Telescope photograph by David Malin Copyright: Anglo-Australian Telescope Board |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |



