When was Our Closest Galaxy Discovered?🤔

 

In this article, We are talking about one of the greatest discovery of astronomy...

An international team of astronomers have discovered a new galaxy, Canis Major, only 42,000 light years away from the centre of the Milky Way- Its our new closest galaxy.

It lies about 25,000 light years away, from the solar system. 

Canis Major was discovered, during an infra-red survey of sky, which allowed the astronomers to peer through the obscuring dust and gas of the Milky Way. 

Illustration of the Canis Dwarf Galaxy and its associated tidal (shown in red) in relation to our Milky Way. 
Credit.: Nicolas Martin & Rodrigo Ibata, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 2003

The discovery team noticed an over density of M giants, red-giant stars that are bright at infra-red wavelengths, at a distance of about 25,000 light years in the general area of Canis Major. 

Canis Major is quite small.

It only contains about a billion stars.

The Canis Major dwarf went undetected until now, for two reasons.

Firstly, at visible wavelengths, It is largely hidden behind sparse, With its stars appearing mixed together, with their Milky Way Counterparts.

Funfact:-

Abdromeda is the largest galaxy of the Local Group, Which consists of the Milky Way Galaxy and about 30 other smaller galaxies.

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