The camera of the giant Magellan telescope shows a dwarf galaxy Phoenix II. Its weak stars are difficult to see among the objects of the Milky Way.
Ultra-weak dwarf galaxies are the smallest structures dominated by dark matter and the least chemically enriched star systems in the Universe. However, it is important to observe them in order to understand the nature of dark matter and the process of galactic formation. They make up most of the universe galaxies, and dwarf constructions around the Milky Way allow you to check the formation scenarios of our own galaxy.
Now about 60 dwarf galaxies are associated with the Milky Way at a distance closer than 1 million light years. The nearest large one is the Andromeda galaxy, located at a distance of 2.5 million light years. Over the past few years, we have managed to find a lot of new satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, but some of them seemed doubtful, so they went through additional testing with more sensitive instruments. With the help of the Giant Magellan Telescope, scientists were able to take pictures of four nearby dwarf galaxies, which turned out to be 16 times weaker than previous measurements. The pictures show new stars and other objects, including expanded structures that allow researchers to reconsider the key parameters of these galaxies.
One of the dwarfs Sagittarius II with a gas mass of 1,300 solar looks unusual, because even for a dwarf galaxy its size is too small. Perhaps we have an extended globular cluster with bright stars. The most elongated dwarf galaxy is now considered Grid 2, and Tukana-3 can be associated with the flow of material entering the Milky Way. New analysis failed to measure the gas in the objects, but scientists have set a new limit, which will help to conduct an updated census of the family of galaxies around the Milky Way.
