The Phoenix Dwarf is a
dwarf irregular galaxy discovered in 1976 by
Hans-Emil Schuster and
Richard Martin West and mistaken for a
globular cluster
A globular cluster is a spheroidal conglomeration of stars. Globular clusters are bound together by gravity, with a higher concentration of stars towards their centers. They can contain anywhere from tens of thousands to many millions of membe ...
.
It is currently 1.44
Mly
A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...
away from
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
. Its name comes from the fact that it is part of the
Phoenix constellation.
Characteristics
The Phoenix Dwarf has an inner part of young
stars which is stretched in an east-west direction and an outer part of mainly old stars that is stretched north-south. The central region's rate of
star formation seems to have been relatively constant across time (Martínez-Delgado et al. 1999). In 1999, St-Germain et al. discovered a
H I region of about 10
5 just to the west of Phoenix. Its
radial velocity is −23 km/s and may be physically associated with Phoenix if it is found to have a similar radial velocity.
References
External links
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{{Phoenix (constellation)
Irregular galaxies
Dwarf irregular galaxies
Phoenix (constellation)
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