Space enthusiasts and stargazers, buckle up for a journey beyond the majestic spirals and the colossal ellipticals. We're diving into the realm of the ultra-faint, the record-breaking Segue 2 galaxy! A Tiny Titan: Discovered in 2009, Segue 2 holds the title of the faintest and least massive galaxy ever found. Nestled in the constellation Aries, a staggering 110,000 light-years from our own Milky Way, this galactic wisp boasts a population of merely 1,000 stars. That's a far cry from the Milky Way's estimated 200 billion! Dim But Dense: Don't underestimate Segue 2 based on its star count. This dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph) packs a surprising punch. Despite its faintness, with a luminosity just 800 times that of our Sun, Segue 2 is surprisingly massive for its size. Calculations suggest a mass of around 550,000 solar masses, resulting in a staggering mass-to-light ratio. This implies the presence of a significant amount of unseen dark matter, the mysterious substance t...
“The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can't imagine”