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Birthday · May 19, 1996

Nearby Dwarf Galaxy Leo I

May 19, 1996

Your birthday marks the moment a small planet circling a modest star gained another witness to its wonders.

Nearby Dwarf Galaxy Leo I

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APOD published May 19, 1996. Credit: Anglo-Australian Telescope Board. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

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Nearby Dwarf Galaxy Leo I

Original APOD · May 19, 1996

Leo I is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy in the Local Group of galaxies dominated by our Milky Way Galaxy and M31. Leo I is thought to be the most distant of the eleven known small satellite galaxies orbiting our Milky Way Galaxy. Besides the LMC and the SMC, all Milky Way satellite galaxies are small, dim, dwarf spheroidals, including the closest galaxy - the Sagittarius Dwarf. Leo I is most distant than most of them, thought to be about 250 kpc away. Analysis of stars in Leo I show it contains many stars only about 3 billion years old - much younger than in most galaxies.

Image credit: Anglo-Australian Telescope Board

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