Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Leo (Leo)  ·  Contains:  The star Regulus (αLeo)
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Leo I dwarf galaxy & Regulus, Johannes Bock
Leo I dwarf galaxy & Regulus
Powered byPixInsight

Leo I dwarf galaxy & Regulus

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Leo I dwarf galaxy & Regulus, Johannes Bock
Leo I dwarf galaxy & Regulus
Powered byPixInsight

Leo I dwarf galaxy & Regulus

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Leo I is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy in the  constellation Leo.

At about 820,000 light-years distant, it is a member of the Local Group of galaxies and is thought to be one of the most distant satellites of the Milky Way galaxy. It was discovered in 1950 by Albert George Wilson on photographic plates of the National Geographic Society – Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, which were taken with the 48-inch Schmidt camera at Palomar Observatory.

Typical to a dwarf galaxy, the metallicity of Leo I is very low, only one percent that of the Sun. Deduced from Hubble Space Telescope observations that the galaxy experienced a major increase (accounting for 70% to 80% of its population) in it's star formation rate between 6 Ga and 2 Ga (billion years ago). There is no significant evidence of any stars that are more than 10 Ga old. About 1 Ga ago, star formation in Leo I appears to have dropped suddenly to an almost negligible rate. Some low-level activity may have continued until 200-500 Ma. Therefore, it may be the youngest dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. In addition, the galaxy may be embedded in a cloud of ionized gas with a mass similar to that of the whole galaxy.

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

Leo I dwarf galaxy & Regulus, Johannes Bock