Aquarius Dwarf

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Aquarius Dwarf

Aquarius Dwarf, courtesy NASA
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Aquarius
Right ascension 20h 46m 51.8s[1]
Declination -12° 50′ 53″[1]
Redshift -141 ± 2 km/s[1]
Distance 3.10 ± 0.16 Mly (950 ± 50 kpc)[2]
Type IB(s)m[1]
Apparent dimensions (V) 2′.2 × 1′.1[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 14.0[1]
Notable features displays a blueshift
Other designations
DDO 210,[1] AqrDIG,[3] PGC 65367[1]
See also: Galaxy, List of galaxies

The Aquarius Dwarf galaxy is a dwarf galaxy and an irregular galaxy, that was first catalogued in 1966 by the DDO survey. Its most distinctive characteristic is that it is one of the few galaxies known to display a blueshift, as it is traveling towards the Milky Way at 137 km/s. Aquarius dwarf is also part of the Aquarius constellation.

Lee et al. 1999 firmly established AqrDIG as a member of the Local Group and derived a distance, using the tip of the red giant branch, of 950 ± 50 kpc. Its distance from the group's barycenter is also calculated to be 950 kpc, which means that AqrDIG is rather isolated in space. Compared to the even further away SagDIG, it is much less luminous.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Results for Aquarius Dwarf. Retrieved on 2007-03-15.
  2. ^ a b van den Bergh, Sidney (April 2000), “Updated Information on the Local Group”, The Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 112 (770): 529-536, <http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2000PASP..112..529V> 
  3. ^ SIMBAD Astronomical Database. Results for Sagittarius Aquarius Dwarf. Retrieved on 2006-11-29.