狮子座1矮星系

AAO image reference AAT 51

Top left is NE. Image width is about 11 arc min
Image and text © Anglo-Australian Observatory, Photograph by David Malin.


The 'Local Group' of galaxies, to which the Milky Way belongs, contains more dwarf galaxies than any other type. The low surface brightness and lack of bright stars makes them difficult to study, even with a large telescope. Leo I presents particular problems because the galaxy appears only 20 arc minutes (less than the apparent diameter of the Moon) from the brilliant star Regulus and special precautions had to be taken to prevent scattered light from the star obliterating its feeble image. The plates from which this picture was made (the first in colour of a dwarf elliptical galaxy) will be used to learn more about the origins of star formation in these light-weight objects.