The Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds (left) - not the kind of things you usually find near a large spiral galaxy (right). Cerro Tololo observatory, Credit: Fred Walker.
Sorry – a bit of southern sky bias in this one. But it does seem that our favourite down under naked eye objects are even more unique than we might have thought. The two dwarf galaxies, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, orbit the Milky Way and have bright star forming regions. It would seem that most satellite galaxies, in orbit around other big galaxies, don’t. And, taking this finding a step further, our galaxy may be one of a declining minority of galaxies still dining on gas-filled dwarf galaxies to maintain a bright and youthful appearance.(...)
Read the rest of Astronomy Without A Telescope – Not So Ordinary (575 words)
© Steve Nerlich for Universe Today, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: galaxy formation, magellanic clouds
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Full story at http://www.universetoday.com/73377/astronomy-without-a-telescope-not-so-ordinary/
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