Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy


The Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy that is a satellite of the Milky Way. The galaxy lies within the constellation Sculptor. It was discovered in 1937 by American astronomer Harlow Shapley using the 24-inch Bruce refractor at Boyden Observatory. The galaxy is located about 290,000 light-years away from the Solar System. The Sculptor Dwarf contains only 4 percent of the carbon and other heavy elements in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, making it similar to primitive galaxies seen at the edge of the universe.

Metallicity

The metallicity of Sculptor dwarf appears to be broken up into two distinct groups, one with = -2.3 and the other with = -1.5. Similar to many of the other Local Group galaxies, the older metal-poor segment appears more extended than the younger metal-rich segment.

Measurements

Using both Hubble Telescope and Gaia observations 12 years apart, about 100 stars in the galaxy were mapped accurately, and 3D motions of about 10 of those stars enable trajectories to be mapped as well.

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