Observations explore globular cluster system in the galaxy NGC 4262 phys.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from phys.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Systematic studies1–4 have revealed hundreds of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs5) in the nearby Universe. With half-light radii rh of approximately 10–100 parsecs and stellar masses M ≈ 106–108 solar masses, UCDs are among the densest known stellar systems6. Although similar in appearance to massive globular clusters7, the detection of extended stellar envelopes4,8,9, complex star formation histories10, elevated mass-to-light ratio11,12 and supermassive black holes13–16 suggest that some UCDs are remnant nuclear star clusters17 of tidally stripped dwarf galaxies18,19, or even ancient compact galaxies20. However, only a few objects have been found in the transient stage of tidal stripping21,22, and this assumed evolutionary path19 has never been fully traced by observations. Here we show that 106 galaxies in the Virgo cluster have morphologies that are intermediate between normal, nucleated dwarf galaxies and single-component UCD
Have you ever wondered how big our galaxy really is? Well, you might be surprised to learn that some of the stars in the Milky Way are so far away that they are almost halfway to our neighboring galaxy, Andromeda. That's right, the outermost fringes of our galaxy extend for more than a million light-years…
Milky Way s Stellar Halo is At Least Two Million Light-Years Across sci.news - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sci.news Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
EarthSky | Milky Way s farthest stars reach halfway to Andromeda earthsky.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from earthsky.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.