Hubble Looks Into The Mouth Of Dwarf Galaxy Leo A

A nearby dwarf galaxy called the Leo A was seen by the Hubble Space Telescope, and it showed a few mllion stars that are sparsely distributed that even the distant galaxies from the background can be seen through it. Just 2.5 million light-years away from Earth, it is actually a member of the local group of galaxies that include our own Milky Way and the Andromeda.

Nearby dwarf galaxy 2.5 million light-years away displays a speckling of stars: https://t.co/336S66ZqO9 @NASA_Hubble pic.twitter.com/uCwMMpShj5

— NASA (@NASA) April 15, 2016

NASA reported that astronomers are keen on observing dwarf galaxies like the Leo A due to its simple structure. Unfortunately, their smaller sizes make them more difficult to study from extremely far away, which is why they are more intent on studying the ones in the local group as these can be studied in detail.

As far as galaxies go, Leo A is rather unusual as it is one of the most isolated ones in the group, with no obvious structural features other than the fact that it has a spherical shape due to the mass of its stars. There had been no evidence that the Leo A had any interaction with its few neighbors, although it does have an overwhelming number of relatively young stars that should have been a result of said interaction. Most of the stars in Leo A -- around 90 percent -- are less than eight billion years old, which is very young in terms of the cosmic universes.

There is little that is known about Leo A; however, it is said to be discovered by Fritz Zwicky in 1942. Also known by its other names, UGC 5364, LEDA 28868, or Leo III, the galaxy, according to Science News, spans a mere 10,000 light-years and consists of stellar populations that range from 10 million to 10 billion years old. Its estimated mass is approximately 80 million solar masses, at least 80 percent of this consisting of dark matter.