dwarf galaxy

1. A small, dim galaxy, intermediate in size between a regular galaxy and a globular cluster. Like larger galaxies, dwarf galaxies are classified as elliptical, spiral, or irregular based on their shape. The closest known galaxy to the Milky Way is a dwarf galaxy in Canis Major that is believed to be losing stars to ours. Many astronomers think that most of the large galaxies seen today were formed either by collisions of dwarf galaxies, which formed first in the aftermath of the Big Bang, or by larger galaxies attracting material away from dwarf galaxies.

Example Sentences

One possibility is that the Milky Way experienced a past encounter or collision with a smaller, dwarf galaxy, but further analysis is needed to confirm this.

Read more on Science Daily

Its true identity is still uncertain: it could be a dense clump of dark matter, roughly 100 times smaller than any previously detected, or possibly an extremely compact, inactive dwarf galaxy.

Read more on Science Daily

Yet recent images captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope seem to contradict that notion by showing protoplanetary disks in a dwarf galaxy adjacent to our own Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud.

Read more on Salon

This rare supernova, called 2023ufx, originated from the core collapse of a red supergiant star, exploded on the outskirts of a nearby dwarf galaxy.

Read more on Science Daily

A neighboring dwarf galaxy ripped off one of NGC 6744’s arms.

Read more on New York Times