The Smallest Galaxy in the Universe.

The Smallest Galaxy in the Universe.

The smallest galaxy in the universe is a challenging thing to pinpoint because there are many tiny galaxies that are difficult to detect and study. However, one of the smallest galaxies known to date is Segue 2, which is a dwarf galaxy located about 114,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Auriga.

Segue 2 was discovered in 2009 using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a project that mapped the positions and properties of millions of galaxies and other celestial objects. It is a type of galaxy known as a dwarf spheroidal galaxy, which is a small and faint galaxy that lacks the distinctive spiral or disk-like structure of larger galaxies.

Segue 2 has a radius of only about 34 light-years, which is incredibly small compared to the Milky Way galaxy, which has a radius of about 100,000 light-years. It has a mass of only about 1,000 solar masses, which is also very small compared to the Milky Way's mass of about 100 billion solar masses.

Despite its small size, Segue 2 is still home to hundreds of thousands of stars, and it is one of the most dark matter-dominated galaxies known. Dark matter is an invisible and mysterious substance that makes up most of the mass in the universe, and it is believed to play a crucial role in the formation and evolution of galaxies.

Segue 2 is an important object for astronomers to study because it can help us better understand how small galaxies form and evolve, as well as shed light on the nature of dark matter. However, because it is so faint and difficult to observe, detailed studies of Segue 2 are challenging and require sophisticated telescopes and observational techniques.