Triangulum II

Coordinates: 02h 13m 17.4s, +36° 10′ 42.4″

Triangulum II
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Triangulum
Right ascension 02h 13m 17.4s[1]
Declination +36° 10′ 42.4″[1]
Distance (comoving) 30 ± 2 kpc (97.8 ± 6.5 kly) [1]
Distance 97.8 ± 6.5 kly (30 ± 2 kpc) [1]
Characteristics
Mass/Light ratio 3600 (V)[1] M☉/L☉
Apparent size (V) 3.9′[1]
Other designations
Triangulum II, Tri II, Laevens 2, Lae 2

Triangulum II (Tri II or Laevens 2) is a dwarf galaxy close to the Milky Way Galaxy. It contains only 1000 stars, yet is quite massive, having a solar mass to light ratio of 3600.[2] This is an unusually high mass for such a small galaxy.[3]

The distance from the centre of the Milky Way is 26 kpc (85 kly). The luminosity is 450 times that of the Sun.[2] This makes it one of the dimmest known galaxies.[2] The 2D half light radius is 34 pc (110 ly). The galaxy was discovered in images taken by Pan-STARRS by Benjamin P. M. Laevens in 2015.[1][2]

Triangulum II is a candidate for detecting WIMPs as a source of dark matter.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Laevens, Benjamin P. M.; Martin, Nicolas F.; Ibata, Rodrigo A.; Rix, Hans-Walter; Bernard, Edouard J.; Bell, Eric F.; Sesar, Branimir; Ferguson, Annette M. N.; Schlafly, Edward F.; Slater, Colin T.; et al. (31 March 2015). "A New Faint Milky Way Satellite Discovered in the PAN-STARRS1 3π Survey". The Astrophysical Journal. 802 (2): L18. arXiv:1503.05554Freely accessible. Bibcode:2015ApJ...802L..18L. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/802/2/L18.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kirby, Evan N.; Cohen, Judith G.; Simon, Joshua D.; Guhathakurta, Puragra (16 November 2015). "Triangulum II: Possibly a Very Dense Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxy". The Astrophysical Journal. 814 (1): L7. arXiv:1510.03856Freely accessible. Bibcode:2015ApJ...814L...7K. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/814/1/L7.
  3. 1 2 Dajose, Lori (18 November 2015). "Dark matter dominates in nearby dwarf galaxy". Phys.org. Retrieved 19 November 2015.; Lori Dajose (November 18, 2015). "Dark Matter Dominates in Nearby Dwarf Galaxy". Caltech. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
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