Dwarf galaxy
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A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy composed of up to several billion stars, a small number compared to our own Milky Way's 200-400 billion stars. The Large Magellanic Cloud, containing over 30 billion stars, is sometimes classified as a dwarf galaxy.
There are many dwarf galaxies in the Local Group: these small galaxies frequently orbit around larger galaxies, such as the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy and the Triangulum Galaxy.
The Milky Way has 14 known dwarf galaxies orbiting it. See Milky Way for more information.
Dwarf galaxies come in many different morphologies:
- Elliptical galaxy: dwarf elliptical galaxy (dE) and its subtype dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph)
- Irregular galaxy: dwarf irregular galaxy (dI)
- Spiral galaxy: dwarf spiral galaxy (dSA) and dwarf barred spiral galaxy (dSB)
Some discovered Dwarf Galaxies include
- Aquarius Dwarf
- Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy
- I Zwicky 18
- Irregular Galaxy IC 10
- Large Magellanic Cloud
- NGC 1569
- NGC 1705
- Pegasus Dwarf Irregular Galaxy
- Phoenix Dwarf
- Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy
- Sagittarius Dwarf Irregular Galaxy
- Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy
- Sculptor Dwarf Irregular Galaxy
- Sextans A
- Sextans Dwarf
- Small Magellanic Cloud
- Tucana Dwarf
- Ursa Minor Dwarf
- Willman 1
- Carina Dwarf
- Draco Dwarf
- Fornax Dwarf
See also
- Active galaxy
- Barred spiral galaxy
- Dwarf elliptical galaxy
- Dwarf spheroidal galaxy
- Elliptical galaxy
- Galaxy classification
- Galaxy formation and evolution
- Groups and clusters of galaxies
- Irregular galaxy
- Lenticular galaxy
- List of galaxies
- List of nearest galaxies
- Ring galaxy
- Spiral galaxy
- Starburst galaxy
- Seyfert galaxy
- Timeline of galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and large scale structure
External links
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