Nearby Dwarf Galaxy Leo I
Image Credit & Copyright:
Anglo-Australian Telescope
photograph by David Malin
Copyright: Anglo-Australian Telescope Board
Copyright: Anglo-Australian Telescope Board
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.