Cetus Dwarf is a

dwarf spheroidal galaxy A dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph) is a term in astronomy applied to small, low-luminosity galaxies with very little dust and an older stellar population. They are found in the Local Group as companions to the Milky Way and as systems that are c ...

. It lies approximately 2.46 Million light-years from Earth. It is an isolated galaxy of the

Local Group The Local Group is the galaxy group that includes the Milky Way, where Earth is located. 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 ...

, which also contains the

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

. All of the most readily observable stars in the galaxy are

red giant A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass (roughly 0.3–8 solar masses ()) in a late phase of stellar evolution. The stellar atmosphere, outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius large and the surface t ...

History

The Cetus Dwarf was discovered in 1999 by Alan B. Whiting, George Hau and

Mike Irwin Michael J. Irwin is a British astronomer. He is the director of the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit and one of the discoverers of the Cetus Dwarf galaxy and the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy. Research Irwin is known worldwide for ...

and was found to be a member of the

Characteristics

As of 2000, no known

neutral hydrogen The hydrogen line, 21 centimeter line, or H I line is a spectral line that is created by a change in the energy state of solitary, electrically neutral hydrogen atoms. It is produced by a spin-flip transition, which means the directio ...

gas has been found that is related to the Cetus dwarf galaxy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cetus Dwarf Dwarf spheroidal galaxies Local Group Cetus 3097691 Astronomical objects discovered in 1999