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Andromeda IV

Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience

The Andromeda Galaxy: A beautiful spiral galaxy with bright star clusters and glowing clouds of gas, located 2.5 million light-years from Earth.

Andromeda IV (And IV) is an isolated irregular dwarf galaxy. It has a moderate surface brightness, a very blue color, and low current star-formation rate. These features suggest it is a small dwarf irregular galaxy, similar to galaxies in the Local Group such as IC 1613 and Sextans A.

Studies using the Hubble Space Telescope have shown that Andromeda IV is a solitary irregular dwarf galaxy. It is located between 22 and 24 million light-years from Earth, far outside the Local Group and not close to the Andromeda Galaxy at all. The galaxy is very isolated, with a Holmberg diameter of 1,880 parsecs. However, neutral atomic hydrogen gas extends more than eight times further out in a disk. Andromeda IV is very dark, and its baryonic mass to dark matter ratio is 0.11.

History

Andromeda IV was found by Sidney van den Bergh in 1972.

Images

A stunning view of a dwarf galaxy captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, showing stars and cosmic structures in deep space.

Related articles

Local Group
Sextans A
Dark matter

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Andromeda IV, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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