posted by Vern
on Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:50 am MDT
Leo I (UCG 5470) is located only 12 arc minutes from the bright star Regulus in the constellation Leo. It is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy and is possibly the most distant of the 14 known satellite galaxies orbitting the Milky Way. Scattered light from the star makes studying the galaxy very difficult. It was discovered in 1950 on plates of the National Geographic Palomar Observatory Sky Survey. It wasn't until 1990 that it was detected visually.
Image credit: Brian Kimball, Longmont Astronomical Society. Image taken with Takahashi E180 and ST2000XM.