Andromeda XIX facts for kids
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Andromeda XIX is a small galaxy that orbits, or goes around, the much bigger Andromeda Galaxy. Think of it like a tiny moon orbiting a giant planet. It's also part of a group of galaxies called the Local Group, which includes our own galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy.
Scientists say Andromeda XIX is "the most spread out" dwarf galaxy we know of in the Local Group. A dwarf galaxy is just a smaller galaxy with fewer stars. It has a "half-light radius" of 1.7 kiloparsecs (kpc). This means that half of its light comes from within a circle about 1.7 kiloparsecs wide. A kiloparsec is a huge distance, about 3,260 light-years!
Andromeda XIX was discovered using a powerful telescope called the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope.
How Andromeda XIX Was Found
Scientists used a special camera called MegaPrime/MegaCam on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). This camera helped them map a large part of the Andromeda Galaxy's outer area, called its "stellar halo." They mapped about a quarter of this halo, reaching out to about 150 kiloparsecs from the center of Andromeda.
This mapping showed that Andromeda's stellar halo is not smooth; it has bumps and uneven parts. This unevenness suggested that there were many other smaller dwarf galaxies orbiting Andromeda. During this research, several other dwarf galaxies were found. These include Andromeda XI, XII, XIII, XV, XVI, XVIII, XIX, and XX.
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