View source for Dwarf spheroidal galaxy

{{Short description|Low-luminosity galaxy of old stars & little dust}}
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| image1 = NGC 0147 2MASS.jpg
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| image2 = Fornax_dwarf_galaxy.jpg
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| footer = [[NGC147]] (left) and the [[Fornax Dwarf]] (right), two of the earliest known dwarf spheroidal galaxies.
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A '''dwarf spheroidal galaxy''' ('''dSph''') is a [[Technical term|term]] in [[astronomy]] applied to small, low-luminosity [[Galaxy|galaxies]] with very little dust and an older stellar population. They are found in the [[Local Group]] as companions to the [[Milky Way]] and as systems that are companions to the [[Andromeda Galaxy]] (M31). While similar to [[Dwarf elliptical galaxy|dwarf elliptical galaxies]] in appearance and properties such as little to no [[Interstellar medium|gas or dust]] or recent [[star formation]], they are approximately [[spheroid]]al in shape and generally have lower luminosity.

== Discovery ==
Despite the radii of dSphs being much larger than those of [[globular cluster]]s, they are much more difficult to find due to their low luminosities and surface brightnesses. Dwarf spheroidal galaxies have a large range of luminosities, and known dwarf spheroidal galaxies span several orders of magnitude of luminosity.<ref name=":23">{{Cite journal|last1=Strigari|first1=Louis E.|last2=Bullock|first2=James S.|last3=Kaplinghat|first3=Manoj|last4=Simon|first4=Joshua D.|last5=Geha|first5=Marla|author5-link= Marla Geha |last6=Willman|first6=Beth|last7=Walker|first7=Matthew G.|date=2008-08-28|title=A common mass scale for satellite galaxies of the Milky Way|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=454|issue=7208|pages=1096–1097|doi=10.1038/nature07222|pmid=18756252|issn=0028-0836|arxiv = 0808.3772 |bibcode = 2008Natur.454.1096S |s2cid=4373541 }}</ref> Their luminosities are so low that [[Ursa Minor]], [[Carina (constellation)|Carina]], and [[Draco (constellation)|Draco]], the known dwarf spheroidal galaxies with the lowest luminosities, have mass-to-light ratios (M/L) greater than that of the Milky Way.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book|title=Galaxies in the Universe|last1=Sparke|first1=L.S.|author1-link= Linda Sparke |last2=Gallagher|first2=J.S. III|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2016|isbn=978-0-521-67186-6|location=United Kingdom|pages=162–165}}</ref> Dwarf spheroidals also have little to no gas with no obvious signs of recent star formation.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=NASA/ADS Search|language=en|bibcode = 1994A&ARv...6...67F|last1=Ferguson |first1=Henry C. |last2=Binggeli |first2=Bruno |journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics Review |year=1994 |volume=6 |issue=1–2 |page=67 |doi=10.1007/BF01208252 |arxiv=astro-ph/9409079 |s2cid=18879556 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=McConnachie|first=Alan W.|date=2012-06-05|bibcode=2012AJ....144....4M|journal=The Astronomical Journal|language=en|volume=144|issue=1|pages=4|doi=10.1088/0004-6256/144/1/4|issn=0004-6256|arxiv=1204.1562|title=The Observed Properties of Dwarf Galaxies in and Around the Local Group|s2cid=118515618 }}</ref> Within the [[Local Group]], dSphs are primarily found near the [[Milky Way]] and [[Andromeda Galaxy|M31]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=NASA/ADS Search|language=en|bibcode = 1998ARA&A..36..435M|last1=Mateo |first1=Mario L. |journal=Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics |year=1998 |volume=36 |pages=435–506 |doi=10.1146/annurev.astro.36.1.435 |arxiv=astro-ph/9810070 |s2cid=119333888 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=K.|first=Grebel, E.|date=1998|title=Star Formation Histories of Local Group Dwarf Galaxies|bibcode=1998HiA....11..125G|journal=Highlights of Astronomy|language=en|volume=11|pages=125–126|doi=10.1017/S1539299600020190 |arxiv=astro-ph/9806191}}</ref>

The first dwarf spheroidal galaxies discovered were Sculptor and Fornax in 1938.<ref name=":03" /> The [[Sloan Digital Sky Survey]] has resulted in the discovery of 11 more dSph galaxies as of 2007<ref name="simponandGeha20074">{{cite journal |last1=Simon |first1=Josh |last2=Geha |first2=Marla |author2-link= Marla Geha |date=November 2007  |title=The kinematics of the ultra-faint Milky Way satellites: Solving the missing satellite problem |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=670 |issue=1 |pages=313–331 |arxiv=0706.0516 |bibcode=2007ApJ...670..313S |doi=10.1086/521816|s2cid=9715950 }}</ref> By 2015, many more ultra-faint dSphs were discovered, all satellites of the Milky Way.<ref name="Koposov20154">{{cite journal |author1=Koposov, Sergey E. |author2=Belokurov, Vasily |author3=Torrealba, Gabriel |author4=Evans, N. Wyn |date=10 March 2015 |title=Beasts of the southern wild: Discovery of a large number of ultra-faint satellites in the vicinity of the Magellanic clouds |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=805 |issue=2 |pages=130 |arxiv=1503.02079 |bibcode=2015ApJ...805..130K |doi=10.1088/0004-637X/805/2/130|s2cid=118267222 }}</ref> Nine potentially new dSphs were discovered in the [[The Dark Energy Survey|Dark Energy Survey]] in 2015.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal |last1=Bonnivard |first1=V. |last2=Combet |first2=C. |last3=Daniel |first3=M. |last4=Funk |first4=S. |last5=Geringer-Sameth |first5=A. |last6=Hinton |first6=J.A. |last7=Maurin |first7=D. |last8=Read |first8=J.I. |last9=Sarkar |first9=S. |display-authors=6 |year=2015 |title=Dark matter annihilation and decay in dwarf spheroidal galaxies: The classical and ultrafaint dSphs |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=453 |issue=1 |pages=849–867 |arxiv = 1504.02048 |bibcode = 2015MNRAS.453..849B |doi = 10.1093/mnras/stv1601 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Each dSph is named after constellations they are discovered in, such as the [[Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy|Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy]], all of which consist of stars generally much older than 1–2 Gyr that formed over the span of many gigayears.<ref name=":03" />

For example, 98% of the stars in the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy are older than 2 Gyr, formed over the course of three bursts around 3, 7 and 13 Gyr ago.<ref name=":03" /> The stars in Carina have also been found to be metal-poor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bono |first1=G. |last2=Stetson |first2=P.B. |last3=Walker |first3=A.R. |last4=Monelli |first4=M. |last5=Fabrizio |first5=M. |last6=Pietrinferni |first6=A. |last7=Brocato |first7=E. |last8=Buonanno |first8=R. |last9=Caputo |first9=F. |display-authors=6 |date=2010-01-01 |title=On the stellar content of the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy |url=http://stacks.iop.org/1538-3873/122/i=892/a=651 |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |language=en |volume=122 |issue=892 |pages=651 |doi=10.1086/653590 |issn=1538-3873 |arxiv = 1004.2559 |bibcode = 2010PASP..122..651B |s2cid=119301603 }}</ref> This is unlike star clusters because, while star clusters have stars which formed more or less the same time, dwarf spheroidal galaxies experience multiple bursts of star formation.<ref name=":03"/>

== Evidence of dark matter ==
Because of the faintness of the lowest-luminosity dwarf spheroidal galaxies and the nature of the stars contained within them, some astronomers suggest that dwarf spheroidal galaxies and [[Globular cluster|globular clusters]] may not be clearly separate and distinct types of objects.<ref name="Bergh20074">{{cite journal |last=van den Bergh |first=Sidney |author-link=Sidney van den Bergh |date=November 2007 |title=Globular clusters and dwarf spheroidal galaxies |journal= Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters |volume=385 |issue=1 |pages=L20–L22 |doi=10.1111/j.1745-3933.2008.00424.x |doi-access=free |bibcode=2008MNRAS.385L..20V |arxiv=0711.4795|s2cid=15093329 }}</ref> Other recent studies, however, have found a distinction in that the total amount of mass inferred from the motions of stars in dwarf spheroidals is many times that which can be accounted for by the mass of the stars themselves. Studies reveal that dwarf spheroidal galaxies have a dynamical mass of around 10{{sup|7}}&nbsp;{{solar mass}}, which is very large despite the low luminosity of dSph galaxies.<ref name=":23"/>

Although at fainter luminosities of dwarf spheroidal galaxies, it is not universally agreed upon how to differentiate between a dwarf spheroidal galaxy and a star cluster; however, many astronomers decide this depending on the object's dynamics: If it seems to have more [[dark matter]], then it is likely that it is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy rather than an enormous, faint [[star cluster]]. In the current predominantly accepted [[Lambda-CDM model|Lambda cold dark matter]] cosmological model, the presence of dark matter is often cited as a reason to classify dwarf spheroidal galaxies as a different class of object from [[globular cluster]]s, which show little to no signs of dark matter. Because of the extremely large amounts of dark matter in dwarf spheroidal galaxies, they may deserve the title "most dark matter-dominated galaxies."<ref name="Strigari20074">{{cite journal |last1=Strigari |first1=Louie |first2=Savvas M. |last2=Koushiappas |last3=Bullock |first3=James S. |last4=Kaplinghat |first4=Manoj |last5=Simon |first5=Joshua D. |last6=Geha |first6=Marla|author6-link= Marla Geha |last7=Willman |first7=Beth |display-authors=etal |year=2008 |title=The most dark matter dominated galaxies: Predicted gamma-ray signals from the faintest Milky Way dwarfs |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=678 |issue=2 |pages=614–620 |arxiv=0709.1510 |bibcode=2008ApJ...678..614S |doi=10.1086/529488|s2cid=11415491 }}</ref>

Further evidence of the prevalence of dark matter in dSphs includes  the case of Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy, which can be assumed to be in dynamic equilibrium to estimate mass and amount of dark matter, since the gravitational effects of the Milky Way are small.<ref name=":33">{{cite journal |last1=Battaglia |first1=Giuseppina |last2=Sollima |first2=Antonio |last3=Nipoti |first3=Carlo |year=2015 |title=The effect of tides on the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=454 |issue=3 |pages=2401–2415 |arxiv = 1509.02368 |bibcode = 2015MNRAS.454.2401B |doi = 10.1093/mnras/stv2096 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Unlike the Fornax galaxy, there is evidence that the UMa2, a dwarf spheroidal galaxy in the [[Ursa Major|Ursa Major constellation]], experiences strong tidal disturbances from the Milky Way.<ref name=":13"/>

A topic of research is how much the internal dynamics of dwarf spheroidal galaxies are affected by the gravitational tidal dynamics of the galaxy they are orbiting. In other words, dwarf spheroidal galaxies could be prevented from achieving equilibrium due to the gravitational field of the Milky Way or other galaxy that they orbit.<ref name=":03"/> For example, the [[Sextans Dwarf Spheroidal|Sextans dwarf spheroidal galaxy]] has a velocity dispersion of 7.9±1.3&nbsp;km/s, which is a velocity dispersion that could not be explained solely by its stellar mass according to the [[Virial theorem|Virial Theorem]]. Similar to Sextans, previous studies of [[Hercules (dwarf galaxy)|Hercules dwarf spheroidal galaxy]] reveal that its orbital path does not correspond to the mass contained in Hercules.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Roderick |first1=T.A. |last2=Jerjen |first2=H. |last3=Da Costa |first3=G.S. |last4=Mackey |first4=A.D. |year=2016 |title=Structural analysis of the Sextans dwarf spheroidal galaxy |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=460 |issue=1 |pages=30–43 |arxiv = 1604.06214 |bibcode = 2016MNRAS.460...30R |doi = 10.1093/mnras/stw949 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Furthermore, there is evidence that the UMa2, a dwarf spheroidal galaxy in the [[Ursa Major|Ursa Major constellation]], experiences strong tidal disturbances from the Milky Way.<ref name=":13"/>

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

{{Galaxy}}
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[[Category:Dwarf spheroidal galaxies| ]]
[[Category:Dwarf elliptical galaxies|*]]
[[Category:Elliptical galaxies|*]]
[[Category:Dwarf galaxies|*]]
[[Category:Galaxy morphological types]]