The Pisces Dwarf, also known as Pisces I, is an irregular

dwarf galaxy A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy composed of about 1000 up to several billion stars, as compared to the Milky Way's 200–400 billion stars. The Large Magellanic Cloud, which closely orbits the Milky Way and contains over 30 billion stars, is ...

that is part of the

Local Group The Local Group is the galaxy group that includes the Milky Way. It has a total diameter of roughly , and a total mass of the order of . It consists of two collections of galaxies in a "dumbbell" shape: the Milky Way and its satellites form ...

. The galaxy, taking its name from the

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

Pisces Pisces may refer to: * Pisces, an obsolete (because of land vertebrates) taxonomic superclass including all fish * Pisces (astrology), an astrological sign * Pisces (constellation), a constellation **Pisces Overdensity, an overdensity of stars in ...

where it appears, is suspected of being a

satellite galaxy A satellite galaxy is a smaller companion galaxy that travels on bound orbits within the gravitational potential of a more massive and luminous host galaxy (also known as the primary galaxy). Satellite galaxies and their constituents are bound ...

of the

Triangulum Galaxy The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy 2.73 million light-years (ly) from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC (''New General Catalogue)'' 598. With the D25 isophotal diameter of , the Triangulum Galax ...

(M33). It displays a

blueshift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in fr ...

, as it is approaching the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

at 287

km/s The metre per second is the unit of both speed (a scalar quantity) and velocity (a vector quantity, which has direction and magnitude) in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the speed of a body covering a distance of one metre in ...

. It may be transition-type galaxy, somewhere between dwarf spheroidal and dwarf irregular. Alternatively, it may be a rare, but statistically acceptable, version of one of the two types.

History

It was discovered by

Valentina Karachentseva Valentina may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''Valentina'' (1950 film), a 1950 Argentine film * ''Valentina'' (2008 film), a 2008 Argentine film Television * ''Valentina'' (1993 telenovela), a 1993 Mexican telenovela * Valentina (2013 telenov ...

in 1976.

Star formation history

Apparently, the star formation rate in the Pisces Dwarf has been declining for the past 10 billion years. Most of the galaxy's stars were formed in its early years, about 8 billion years ago. The study has also shown that there has been no significant star formation for the past 100 million years. Hence, most of the stars that populate this galaxy are old, metal-rich stars aged about 2.5 billion years. However, there are small clusters of young, hot, blue stars on the outer areas of the galaxy.

References

External links

* {{Triangulum Galaxy Dwarf irregular galaxies Dwarf spheroidal galaxies Peculiar galaxies Local Group Triangulum Subgroup Pisces (constellation) 03792 ?