Hubble probes 'ghost' galaxy
Date: 10 July 2012
Satellite: Hubble Space Telescope
Depicts: Dwarf galaxy Leo IV
Copyright: NASA, ESA, and T. Brown (STScI)
Astronomers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to unmask the dim, star-starved dwarf galaxy Leo IV. This Hubble image demonstrates why astronomers had a tough time spotting this small-fry galaxy: it is practically invisible. The image shows how the handful of stars from the sparse galaxy are virtually indistinguishable from the background.
Residing 500 000 light-years from Earth, Leo IV is one of more than a dozen ultra-faint dwarf galaxies found lurking around our Milky Way galaxy. These galaxies are dominated by dark matter, an invisible substance that makes up the bulk of the Universe's mass.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
