Bedin I
Bedin I is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy located in the constellation Pavo. It is situated around 28.38 million light-years from Earth, behind the globular cluster NGC 6752. Bedin I is possibly one of the oldest galaxies known, having formed around 10–13 billion years ago, and is one of the most isolated dwarf galaxies known, situated around 2.12 million light-years away from NGC 6744, its nearest neighbor with which it may be physically associated. As such, it has been deemed by astronomers as a "fossil" from the early universe. It was accidentally discovered by Italian astronomer Luigi Bedin, whose team was studying white dwarfs in NGC 6752 using the Hubble Space Telescope in September 2018; the discovery was announced in a paper published in January 2019.
Bedin I | |
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Long-exposure photograph of Bedin I (left) | |
Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
Constellation | Pavo |
Right ascension | 19h 10m 45.41s |
Declination | −59° 55′ 04.32″ |
Distance | 8.7+0.5 −0.7 Mpc |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 19.94 |
Absolute magnitude (V) | −9.76 |
Characteristics | |
Size | 840 × 340 pc |
Apparent size (V) | 20" × 8" |