The Phoenix Dwarf is a dwarf irregular galaxy discovered in 1976 by Hans-Emil Schuster and Richard Martin West and mistaken for a globular cluster.[5][6] It is currently 1.44 Mly away from Earth. Its name comes from the fact that it is part of the Phoenix constellation.
Phoenix Dwarf Galaxy | |
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![]() Phoenix Dwarf by the Very Large Telescope[1] | |
Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
Constellation | Phoenix |
Right ascension | 01h 51m 06.3s[2] |
Declination | −44° 26′ 41″[2] |
Redshift | 60 ± 30 km/s[2] |
Distance | 1.44 ± 0.07 Mly (440 ± 20 kpc)[3][4] |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 13.1[2] |
Characteristics | |
Type | IAm[2] |
Apparent size (V) | 4′.9 × 4′.1[2] |
Notable features | - |
Other designations | |
ESO 245- G 007,[2] PGC 6830[2] |
The Phoenix Dwarf has an inner part of young stars which is stretched in an east-west direction and an outer part of mainly old stars that is stretched north-south. The central region's rate of star formation seems to have been relatively constant across time (Martínez-Delgado et al. 1999). In 1999, St-Germain et al. discovered a H I region of about 105 M☉ just to the west of Phoenix. Its radial velocity is −23 km/s and may be physically associated with Phoenix if it is found to have a similar radial velocity.[7]
Constellation of Phoenix | |||||||||||
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Stars |
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Galaxies |
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