Sextans A (also known as UGCA 205) is a small

dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...

irregular galaxy An irregular galaxy is a galaxy that does not have a distinct regular shape, unlike a spiral or an elliptical galaxy. Irregular galaxies do not fall into any of the regular classes of the Hubble sequence, and they are often chaotic in appearan ...

. It spans about 8000 light-years across, and is located at 4.3 million light-years away, in the outskirts of the

Local Group The Local Group is the galaxy group that includes the Milky Way, where Earth is located. It has a total diameter of roughly , and a total mass of the order of . It consists of two collections of galaxies in a " dumbbell" shape; the Milky Way ...

of galaxies, which includes the

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

galaxy, and to which Sextans A may or may not belong. Sextans A has a peculiar square shape. Massive short-lived stars exploded in supernovae that caused more star formation, triggering yet more supernovae, ultimately resulting in an expanding shell. Young blue stars now highlight areas and shell edges high in current star formation, which from the perspective of observers on Earth appears roughly square. The 10.4 m telescope

Gran Telescopio Canarias The Gran Telescopio Canarias (GranTeCan or GTC) is a reflecting telescope located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands, Spain. It is the List of largest optical reflecting telescopes, world's ...

recently observed the OB-type stars that power the giant HII regions. Sextans A dwarf galaxy

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sextans A Irregular galaxies Dwarf galaxies Low surface brightness galaxies NGC 3109 subgroup Sextans 029653 UGCA objects -01-26-030 F10085-0427

See also

References

External links