Triangulum II | |
---|---|
Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
Constellation | Triangulum |
Right ascension | 02h 13m 17.4s [1] |
Declination | +36° 10′ 42.4″ [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. Like other dwarf spheroidal galaxies, its stellar population is very old: the galaxy was quenched before 11.5 billion years ago. [2] It contains only 1000 stars, yet is quite massive, having a solar mass to light ratio of 3600. [3] This is an unusually high mass for such a small galaxy. [4]
The distance from the centre of the Milky Way is 26 kpc (85 kly). The luminosity is 450 times that of the Sun. [3] This makes it one of the dimmest known galaxies. [3] 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] [3]
Triangulum II is a candidate for detecting WIMPs as a source of dark matter. [4]