Fornax Dwarf
The Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal (formerly known as the Fornax System) is an elliptical dwarf galaxy in the constellation Fornax that was discovered in 1938 by Harlow Shapley. He discovered it while he was in South Africa on photographic plates taken by the 24 inch (61 cm) Bruce refractor at Boyden Observatory, shortly after he discovered the Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy.
| Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal | |
|---|---|
The Fornax dwarf galaxy | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Fornax |
| Right ascension | 02h 39m 59.3s |
| Declination | −34° 26′ 57″ |
| Redshift | 53 ± 9 km/s |
| Distance | 466 ± 10 kly (143 ± 3 kpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 9.3 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | dE0 |
| Apparent size (V) | 17.0′ × 12.6′ |
| Notable features | has 6 globular clusters |
| Other designations | |
| Fornax dSph, Fornax Dwarf Elliptical, Fornax Dwarf Galaxy, Fornax dE, PGC 10074 / 10093, ESO 356-4 | |
The galaxy is a satellite of the Milky Way and contains six globular clusters, an unusually high number for its size; the largest, NGC 1049, was discovered before the galaxy itself. The galaxy is also receding from the Milky Way at 53 km/s. It mostly contains population II stars, but also has populations of young and intermediate age.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.