Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 18, 2026

Cetus Dwarf

Cetus Dwarf is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy. It lies approximately 2.46 Million light-years from Earth. It is an isolated galaxy of the Local Group, which also contains the Milky Way. All of the most readily observable stars in the galaxy are red giants.

Last revised
Jun 18, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
260 w
Citations
12
Source
Cetus Dwarf
Cetus Dwarf with legacy surveys
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationCetus
Right ascension00h 26m 11.0s1
Declination−11° 02′ 40″1
Distance2.46 ± 0.08 Mly (755 ± 24 kpc)2
Apparent magnitude (V)14.41
Characteristics
TypedSph1
Apparent size (V)5.0 × 4.31
Other designations
PGC 30976911
Part of the Cetus Dwarf with Hubble. source ↗

Cetus Dwarf is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy. It lies approximately 2.46 Million light-years from Earth. It is an isolated galaxy of the Local Group, which also contains the Milky Way.3 All of the most readily observable stars in the galaxy are red giants.4

History

The Cetus Dwarf was discovered in 1999 by Alan B. Whiting, George Hau and Mike Irwin and was found to be a member of the Local Group.25

Characteristics

As of 2000, no known neutral hydrogen gas has been found that is related to the Cetus dwarf galaxy.5

References

References

  1. "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for Cetus Dwarf. Retrieved 2006-12-23.
  2. McConnachie, A. W.; Irwin, M. J.; Ferguson, A. M. N.; Ibata, R. A.; Lewis, G. F.; Tanvir, N. (2005). "Distances and metallicities for 17 Local Group galaxies". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 356 (4): 979–997. arXiv:astro-ph/0410489. Bibcode:2005MNRAS.356..979M. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08514.x.
  3. Alan B. Whiting; George Hau; Mike Irwin (31 August 1999). "A New Local Group Galaxy in Cetus". The Astronomical Journal. 118 (6): 2767–2774. Bibcode:1999AJ....118.2767W. doi:10.1086/301142. hdl:10533/171631.
  4. Hartmut Frommert. "Cetus Dwarf". SEDS.
  5. van den Bergh, Sidney (April 2000). "Updated Information on the Local Group". The Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 112 (770): 529–536. arXiv:astro-ph/0001040. Bibcode:2000PASP..112..529V. doi:10.1086/316548. S2CID 1805423.
External links