The Dutch team have discovered new galaxies 200 light years in diameter in the constellation Loli and are studying their origins.
The Milky Way is home to at least 100 billion stars and the galaxy alone. However, astronomers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands have discovered 44 new galaxies.
The team uses data from different sources to search for undiscovered galaxies hidden in space in the constellation Fornax. This constellation, about 65 million light years from Earth, is a source of discovery of giant galaxies in the past. Data from numerous surveys and observations reveal the presence of 44 new galaxies in space, but they are not the same as the Milky Way.
Each variant of the galaxy is a different size, and these newly discovered galaxies belong to the micro dwarf galaxy (UCD) type. They are only about 200 light years wide while the Milky Way is about 100,000 light years in diameter.
These new galaxies have been recorded near the edges of the constellations, more than 1,170 light years away. Due to their small size, these galaxies contain fewer stars, a rough estimate of around 100 million are found inside and are being classified by the team.
“With optical images deep in the constellation Tianshu, combined with data in the near infrared, the team systematically searched for microscopic dwarf galaxies for the first time,” said Teymoor Saifollahi, study leader.
In addition, the researchers found that the UCD density was too distributed outside the Thien Lo constellation in the north and west, which could affect the analysis. Spectral and radial speed measurements will be taken to unravel the origins of these 44 galaxies.
