Leo II PGC 34176
Constellation: Leo
Distance: 690 kly
Type: Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
Location: Didsbury AB Canada
Imaging: C14 Hyperstar Canon 40D
Mount: CGE Pro
Guiding: SSAG Orion Short Tube 80
Exposure: 9x300 sec
Date: 2010-04-10
Software: Images Plus, PHD, Photoshop CS4
Mag 12.6
Leo II(or Leo B) is an dwarf spheroidal galaxy about 690,000 light-years away in the constellation Leo. As of October 2008 it is one of 24 known satellite galaxies of the Milky Way.[4]As of 2007 Leo II is thought to have a core radius of 178 ± 13 pc and a tidal radius of 632 ± 32 pc.[5]It was discovered in 1950 In 2007 a team of 15 scientists observed Leo II through the 8.2 meter Subaru optical-infrared telescope in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Over 2 nights, 90 minutes of exposures were taken and 82,252 stars were detected down to a visible magnitude of 26. They found that Leo II consists of largely of metal-poor older stars, a sign that it has survived the galactic cannibalism under which massive galaxies (e.g., the Milky Way) consume smaller galaxies to attain their extensive size